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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


OUR 

BACKDOOR 

NEIGHBORS 


Our  Backdoor 
Neighbors 

By  FRANK  G.  PELLETT 


PHOTOGRAPHS  FROM  LIFE 
BY  THE  AUTHOR 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 


NEW  YORK 


CINCINNATI 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
FRANK  C.  PELLETT 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


First  Edition  Printed  September,  1917 
Reprinted  October,  1921 


TO  MY  WIFE 

ADA  E.  PELLETT 

COMPANION,  FRIEND,  COUNSELOR 
To  whom  more  than  to  any  other 
I    owe    whatever    measure    of 
success  I  may  hope  to  attain,  this 
book  is  affectionately  dedicated. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Preface 13 

Where  the  Naturalist  Lived 15 

A  Summer  with  the  Red-tails 25 

The  Chicken  Thief      . 45 

The  Neighborly  Screech  Owls 61 

The  Polecat 75 

The  Magic  City 93 

Foxy Ill 

The  Hatching  of  the  Turtles 127 

The  Gold-Banded  Paper-Maker      ....  139 

Bunny  Cottontail 165 

A  Jolly  Old  Crow 179 

The  Caterpillar's  Prophecy 199 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Naturalist  decided  to  take  the  nest  to  his  study,  and 
see  what  he  could  do  toward  raising  the  orphans  by 
hand Frontispiece 

PAGE 

THE  NATURALIST 

A  modest  old  farmhouse  surrounded  by  beautiful  trees    .     .     17 
There    were    many    wild    flowers    which   the  neighbors  re- 
garded as  weeds 18 

A  last  remaining  bit  of  Iowa  woodland 19 

Wild  flowers  grew  in  profusion 21 

At  any  time  or  any  season  there  was  always  much  of  in* 

terest  to  the  Naturalist  around  his  little  home       ...     24 

A  SUMMER  WITH  THE  RED-TAILS 

The  Naturalist  was  the  first  to  observe  their  arrival  .  .  27 
Father  Red-tail  watched  silently  from  the  topmost  branch  of 

a  dead  tree 29 

The  young  birds  kept  their  mouths  open  constantly,  even 

when  being  photographed 31 

It  was  not  one  of  the  thirteen  guns,  but  the  camera  in  the 
hands  of  the  Naturalist  which  finally  took  Mother  Red- 
tail  by  surprise 37 

He  would  alight  in  close  proximity  to  some  passer-by  .  .  39 
One  youngster  lacked  the  worldly  wisdom  of  his  fellows  .  39 
The  youngsters  made  the  best  of  the  situation  ....  42 

THE  CHICKEN  THIEF 
Cooper  Hawk  would  silently  alight  on  some  object  which 

furnished  a  view  of  the  poultry  yard 49 

In  the  nest  were  three  white  eggs  with  a  slight  bluish  tinge  51 

The  young  birds  peering  over  the  edge  of  the  nest      ...  53 

Looking  directly  down  upon  them 53 

At  times  they  would  walk  out  on  a  limb  as  though  prepar- 
ing for  flight 55 

Two  of  the  birds  finally  killed  and  ate  the  third  one    ...  58 

THE  NEIGHBORLY  SCREECH  OWLS 
They  lived  very  near  to  the  Naturalist's  house  in  the  woods     64 


10  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The  Naturalist  had  made  some  boxes  of  old  lumber  and  had 

fitted  them  up  for  housekeeping 66 

Father  Screech  Owl  lost  his  temper 67 

They  were  very  comical  little  fellows  with  part  feathers  and 

part  down 68 

They  were  much  disturbed  by  the  light,  and  blinked  un- 
ceasingly    69 

By  this  time  the  boys  were  interested  in  the  owl  family  also, 
so  that  there  were  numerous  visitors  to  the  home  of  the 
birds  in  the  box 71 

On  a  winter  day  when  the  sky  was  gray 72 

THE   POLECAT 

A  polecat  cautiously  peered  around  the  corner     ....        80 
If  he  approached   too   near,   one  would   stamp   a  front  foot 

threateningly,   arching  the   back  and   throwing   the   tail 

forward  above  the    body 81 

It  would  peek  at  him  across  a  limb  or  around  the  body  at  a 

height  about  on  a  level  with  his  head 83 

Sometimes  one  would  climb  a  tree 83 

During  the  day  they  usually  remained  curled  up  in  the  nest     84 
Mother  Skunk  would  peek  out  cautiously  to  see  if  the  coast 

was  clear 85 

The  boys  decided  that  a   young  polecat  would   make  a  fine 

pet 87 

The  Naturalist  persuaded  them  not  to  break  family  ties        .     92 

THE   MAGIC    CITY 

The  Magic  City  is  the  hive,  and  the  inhabitants  are  the  bees     96 

The  Naturalist  then  lifted  out  a  frame  which  was  filled  with 

comb  and  covered  with  bees 97 

The  drones  are  big  blundering  fellows  who  never  work       .     98 

Most  interesting  of  all  they  found  the  queen,  the  mother  of 

the  whole  population  of  the  bee  city 99 

When  the  bees  would  rear  another  queen,  they  provide  a 

very  large  cell,  which  looks  much  like  a  small  peanut  100 

Suddenly  there  was  a  great  bluster  among  the  bees,  and  with 

a  glad,  new  note  they  tumbled  hastily  out  ....  101 

On  the  porch  of  his  study  the  Naturalist  kept  a  small  ob- 
servation hive  with  glass  sides  and  wooden  shutters  .  102 

From  roadside  weeds  they  gathered  a  harvest  of  gold       .     .  103 


ILLUSTRATIONS  11 


FOXY  PAGE 

At  the  least  alarm  they  would  flatten  out  on  a  limb  and 

were  not  easily  seen  from  below 114 

A  nest  of  dry  leaves  would  be  built  high  in  a  treetop       .       .115 

The  newborn  young  are  very  small  and  naked  and  blind        .  117 

They  soon  don  their  furs 117 

It  just  filled  the  hollow  of  Melvin's  hand 119 

They  found  one  with  its  eyes  open  and  all  its  clothes  on    .  120 

Foxy's  open-air  dining  table 121 

Foxy  and  Freddie  were  very  good  friends 123 

He  would  scamper  upon  a  box  and  help  himself     ....  125 

THE  HATCHING  OF  THE  TURTLES 

Every  year,  in  the  month  of  June,  Mother  Snapping  Turtle 

left  the  water  and  took  a  little  journey 130 

As  soon  as  an  egg  cracked  open,  a  little  nose  would 
be  pushed  out,  and  there  Baby  Turtle  would  sit  for 
hours 132 

If  disturbed,  she  would  try  to  hide  by  drawing  her  head  as 

far  back  as  possible  into  her  shell 135 

They  had  grown  but  little  in  the  year  spent  in  the  aquarium   137 

THE  GOLD-BANDED  PAPER-MAKER 

He  found  a  small  paper  nest 144 

Mother  Wasp  feeding  her  young 144 

Larva  spinning  its  cocoon 152 

The  emerging  wasps  would  not  forage  for  baby  sisters     .      .   152 
The  Naturalist  decided  to  take  the  nest  to  his  study,  and  see 

what  he  could  do  toward  raising  the  orphans  by  hand     .   157 
None  of  the  mature  wasps  remained  more  than  a  few  days, 

when  they  disappeared 160 

BUNNY   COTTONTAIL 

"Look  out,  papa,  and  see  who's  here" 167 

The  rabbit  is  a  timid  and  defenseless  animal 169 

Small  boys  set  an  innocent-looking  trap 170 

Baby  Cottontail  after  leaving  the  nest 173 

She  makes  a  little  hollow  in  the  earth  and   lines  it  with  her 

own  fur 174 

The  young  rabbit  in  its  snug  little  nest 174 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


They  were  likely  to  skip  out  and  depend  upon  their  ability 

to  hide 175 

Ready  to  be  off  with  the  slightest  alarm 177 

A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 

Jolly  Jim  Crow 181 

A  sly  old  rascal  was  robbing  the  turkey's  nest      ....      182 

Crow's  egg,  life-size 183 

He  made  friends  with  the  bantam  hen  and  with  a  skunk  that 

lived  there  at  the  time 190 

The  baby  was  feeding  him  bread  and  milk  with  a  spoon     .  191 
The  boys  decided  that  crows  would  be  very  good  subjects 

for  observing  on  their  own  account 192 

It  was  no  mean  climb  to  the  nest 193 

They  found  a  nest  in  a  tall  tree  near  the  river     ....      195 
There  were  but  two  eggs  in  the  nest  when  the  picture  was 

taken 195 

Young  crows,   twenty  days  old 196 

The  last  of  the  young  ones  had  left  the  nest     .     .  .     .  197 

THE  CATERPILLAR'S  PROPHECY 

The  milkweed  suffered  seriously  as  a  result  of  their  presence, 

and  was  soon  almost  entirely  stripped  of  its  leaves  .  .  203 

As  the  youngsters  neared  maturity  the  Naturalist  took  them 

to  his  study,  where  he  could  observe  their  final  change  204 

It  turned  itself  into  the  form  of  a  question  mark,  as  though, 
like  the  Naturalist,  trying  to  peer  beyond  the  veil  that 
hid  its  future 205 

The  caterpillar  gradually  became  incased  in  a  beautiful 
casket  of  green  and  gold,  as  though  some  invisible 
fairy  were  preparing  it  for  burial 206 

She  then  remained  quietly  hanging  to  the  shell  of  the  empty 

casket  208 


PREFACE 

THE  stories  that  follow  are  the  author's 
personal  experiences  with  the  creatures 
described.  Every  illustration  is  from  an  orig- 
inal photograph  made  by  the  author.  Sev- 
eral years  of  time  and  almost  unlimited  pa- 
tience have  been  necessary  to  secure  them. 

Several  of  the  photographs  have  already 
appeared  in  various  magazines,  including  such 
well-known  publications  as  Outing,  Country 
Life  in  America,  Forest  and  Stream,  and 
Guide  to  Nature.  Some  of  the  stories  also 
have  been  published  in  Outing,  and  the 
readers  of  that  magazine  may  recognize  the 
"Chicken  Thief,"  "The  Neighborly  Screech 
Owls,"  and  the  Red-tail  family.  A  few  of  the 
pictures  have  also  been  published  in  the 
author's  book,  Productive  Beekeeping. 

This  book  is  given  to  the  public  with  the 
hope  that  these  intimate  stories  of  life  in  the 
big  out-of-doors  may  lead  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  that 
beset  the  wild  creatures,  and  a  more  sym- 
pathetic relationship  with  them. 

FRANK  C.  PELLETT. 

Tamakoche,  Atlantic,  Iowa,  July  31,  1917. 
IS 


WHERE  THE 
NATURALIST  LIVED 


WHERE  THE  NATURALIST 
LIVED 

THE   Naturalist  lived   in   a   modest   old 
farmhouse    surrounded    by    beautiful 
trees.    The  house  was  small  and  unattractive, 


A  modest,  old  farmhouse  surrounded  by  beautiful  trees. 

but  he  was  more  interested  in  birds  and  bees 
and  trees  and  flowers  than  in  houses.  Mrs. 
Naturalist  did  not  find  her  habitation  all  that 

17 


18 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


might  be  desired,  but  her  husband  found  so 
much  joy  in  their  surroundings  that  he  could 
not  contain  it  alone.  She  absorbed  some  of  his 
enthusiasm  and  was  content. 


There  were  many  wild  flowers  which  the  neighbors  regarded  as  weeds. 


About  the  house  there  were  clumps  of  elder- 
berries, where  the  birds  came  to  feed  in  the  hot 
days  of  August,  and  mulberries  where  they 
were  content  to  dine  in  cherry  time.  There 
were  many  wild  flowers,  such  as  asters  and 
goldenrod,  crownbeard  and  rudbeckia,  which 


WHERE  THE  NATURALIST  LIVED  19 

the  neighbors  regarded  as  weeds,  but  which 
the  Naturalist  guarded  with  jealous  care. 
Brown  thrashers  and  catbirds  sang  in  the 
apple  trees,  and  vireos  nested  in  the  blackberry 
bushes.  Screech  owls  and  flickers  reared  their 
families  in  the  boxes  which  the  Naturalist 
built  for  them  among  the  trees,  and  wrens  sang 
daily  as  they  brought  worms  to  feed  their  fam- 
ilies which  were  growing  up  under  the  eaves 
of  his  study. 

Rabbits  played  on  the  lawn  in  summer  and 
ate  the  bark  from  the  shrubbery  in  winter. 
Squirrels  gathered  the  nuts  from  the  trees  be- 
fore the  door  and  scolded  when  the  boys 


A  last  remaining  bit  of  Iowa  woodland. 


20 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

decided  that  they  were  entitled  to  a  part  of  the 
harvest.  Spiders  were  permitted  to  spin  their 
webs  across  the  open  spaces  in  the  wood  with- 
out interference,  for  the  Naturalist  had  built 
a  high  fence  about  a  last  remaining  bit  of  Iowa 
woodland,  and  reserved  it  for  the  original 
inhabitants.  No  cattle  or  pigs  were  permitted 
to  pasture  there,  no  hunters  were  allowed  to 
shoot  the  wild  creatures  that  took  refuge 
within  the  inclosure,  and  few  besides  the  Nat- 
uralist and  his  boys  ever  intruded.  In  summer 
the  undergrowth  was  so  dense  that  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  one  could  force  a  way  through. 
Hundreds  of  wild  birds  nested  there  undis- 
turbed, wild  flowers  grew  in  profusion,  and 
insect  life  was  very  abundant.  Here  the  Na- 
turalist spent  many  long  summer  days  in  cul- 
tivating an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
many  wild  creatures  that  lived  out  their 
lives  under  conditions  somewhat  similar  to 
those  which  their  ancestors  had  enjoyed  before 
the  white  man  came. 

Practical  people  passing  by  were  inclined 
to  remark  at  the  waste  of  good  farm  land 
growing  up  in  such  a  tangle,  and  to  chide  the 
Naturalist  because  he  failed  to  cut  his  weeds. 
However,  they  were  not  on  speaking  terms 


WHERE  THE   NATURALIST  LIVED  21 

with  the  denizens  of  the  little  wood,  nor  did 
they  see  the  beauty  of  the  plants  which  to  the 
eyes  of  the  nature  lover  are  anything  but 
weeds.  The  Naturalist  could  never  quite 
understand  how  people  could  be  content  to 
spend  the  long  days  within  doors  when  there 
was  so  much  worth  while  outside.  Neither 
could  he  understand  how  they  could  keep  so 
busy  all  day  long  with  such  practical  things  as 
cultivating  their  corn  or  hoeing  their  gardens 
when  there  were  so  many  songs  to  be  heard  and 


Wild  flowers  grew  in  profusion. 


22 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

so  many  pictures  of  ever-changing  hue  to  be 
seen.  When  he  worked  among  his  bees  he 
must  stop  ever  and  anon  to  watch  the  busy 
little  creatures  bringing  in  their  loads  of 
bright  yellow  pollen  and  to  listen  to  their 
cheerful  hum  as  they  went  about  their  labor. 
Now  and  again  a  brilliant  cardinal  would 
alight  in  a  tree  top  and  whistle,  or  a  quail 
would  call  "Bob  White"  from  a  fence  post,  or 
a  cicada  would  start  his  shrill  call,  in  a  way 
to  make  it  very  plain  that  life  was  not  all 
intended  for  work  on  the  bright  summer  days. 

At  night  he  would  wander  under  trees 
watching  the  flashing  of  the  lights  of  the  fire- 
flies, and  listening  to  the  songs  of  the  crickets 
and  katydids,  and  sometimes  lie  down  in  the 
grass  and  fall  off  to  sleep  to  awaken  with  the 
sun  shining  and  the  day  once  more  at  hand. 

When  he  worked  in  his  garden  he  marveled 
at  the  certainty  with  which  the  tendrils  of  the 
grape  vine  found  the  nearest  support,  and 
found  much  of  interest  in  the  life  cycle  of  the 
cut  worm  which  fed  on  his  cabbages.  The 
growing  of  vegetables  was  so  much  more  inter- 
esting than  the  selling  of  them  that  he  was 
inclined  to  neglect  the  latter  phase.  After  all, 
why  go  to  the  trouble  of  growing  things  when 


WHERE  THE  NATURALIST   LIVED  23 

there  are  so  many  equally  interesting  that  will 
grow  themselves? 

Perhaps  you  will  think  that  the  Naturalist 
was  an  impracticable  person,  and  so  he  was, 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  man  who  will  spend 
six  long  days  at  hard  work  in  order  that  he 
may  buy  an  automobile  and  go  chasing  madly 
across  the  country  on  the  seventh.  At  any  time 
the  Naturalist  could  step  outside  his  door  and 
find  a  hundred  things  far  more  interesting 
than  an  automobile,  and  he  could  enjoy  them 
for  six  days  by  working  one. 

In  spring  there  was  the  marvelous  resur- 
rection of  the  bloodroots  and  spring  beauties, 
violets  and  buttercups;  the  coming  of  the 
birds  and  awakening  of  the  frogs.  In  summer 
there  was  such  a  riot  of  life  on  every  hand  that 
he  never  could  quite  comprehend  it;  ripe 
cherries,  baby  chickens,  frisky  lambs,  butter- 
flies and  bumblebees.  In  autumn  the  apples 
ripened  on  the  trees  and  pumpkins  yellowed  in 
the  fields,  while  the  leaves  turned  yellow  and 
the  nuts  came  down.  When  at  last  winter 
came  and  buried  the  dead  leaves  beneath  a 
cover  of  snow,  and  the  song  birds  had  winged 
their  way  southward,  he  sat  by  his  fire  and 
dreamed  of  spring,  while  the  wind  moaned 


OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


through  the  branches  of  the  trees  above  his 
study.  On  sunny  days  he  would  find  joy  in 
greeting  the  hardy  little  tree  sparrows  and 
juncos  in  the  wood,  and  watching  the  squirrels 
seeking  for  their  buried  nuts  beneath  the  snow. 
At  any  time  or  any  season  there  was  always 
much  of  interest  to  the  Naturalist  around  his 
little  home  among  the  trees.  Such  are  the  con- 
ditions under  which  this  book  was  written,  for 
the  Naturalist  is  the  author,  and  "Our  Back- 
door Neighbors"  are  the  friends  that  live 
about  his  door. 


At  any  time  or  any  season  there  was  always  much  of  interest  to  the  Naturalist 
around  his  little  home. 


A  SUMMER  WITH 
THE     RED-TAILS 


A  SUMMER  WITH  THE  RED-TAILS 

AFTER  A  SEASON  OF  EXEMPLARY  BEHAVIOR 

THEY  NEARLY  BRING  THEMSELVES  TO 

THE  GALLOWS 

IT  was  a  cold,  bright  day  in  early  March 
when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Red-tail  arrived. 
Patches  of  snow  covered  the  ground  and  food 
was  scarce.  Wearied  and  hungry  from  their 
long  journey,  they  made  their  first  meal  from  a 
hen  which  had  died  and  been  carried  to  the 
open  field  because  the  ground  was  frozen  too 
hard  to  permit  the 
digging  of  a  hole 
in  which  to  bury 
it.  The  Natural- 
ist, always  on  the 
watch,  was  the 
first  to  observe 
their  arrival.  He 
was  observing 
them  as  they  dined 
on  the  dead  hen, 


The  Naturalist  was  the  first  to  observe  their  arrival 

27 


28 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

when  Tommy  Jones,  who  lived  across  the 
road,  happened  to  catch  sight  of  them  also. 

There  was  no  unnecessary  sentiment  in 
Tommy's  make-up,  and  the  dinner  was  quickly 
interrupted  by  his  arrival  with  a  gun.  For- 
tunately, Mr.  Red-tail  saw  him  coming  and 
departed  with  his  spouse  before  Tommy  could 
get  near  enough  to  injure  them.  Tommy,  who 
regarded  the  Naturalist  with  contempt,  was 
glad  of  the  opportunity  to  prove  a  crime 
against  Mr.  Red-tail  and  his  wife.  The  Na- 
turalist, however,  knew  that  the  hen  had  lain 
in  the  field  a  month  before  the  arrival  of  the 
birds,  and  was  little  impressed  with  Tommy's 
tirade  against  the  "chicken  hawks,"  as  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Red-tail  are  called  by  the  farmers  in  the 
neighborhood  in  which  they  lived. 

Tommy  was  very  handy  with  his  gun,  and 
many  a  luckless  hawk,  crow,  or  owl  fell  before 
it.  The  Naturalist  protested  to  no  purpose 
that  no  crimes  had  been  proved  against  them. 
Tommy  was  the  kind  to  hang  suspected  crimi- 
nals on  suspicion. 

There  is  little  woodland  in  this  particular 
part  of  Iowa,  and  big  birds  like  the  Red-tails 
find  it  difficult,  indeed,  to  rear  their  families 
unmolested.  The  Naturalist  lives  in  a  bit  of 


A  SUMMER  WITH   THE   RED-TAILS         29 

woods  which  he  guards  jealously,  and  all 
friends  in  fur  or  feathers  find  it  a  veritable 
city  of  refuge.  However,  many  a  tragedy  has 
resulted  when  creatures  which  are  regarded 


Father  Red-tail  watched  silently  from  the  topmost  branch  of  a  dead  tree. 

with  suspicion  have  strayed  beyond  the  pro- 
tected bounds,  and  occasionally  the  wrathful 
owners  of  missing  chickens  penetrate  this  area 
to  avenge  the  missing  chickens  on  the  first  sus- 
picious character  to  come  within  their  reach. 


30 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

The  Naturalist  is,  thus,  sometimes  unable  to 
protect  his  friends,  even  at  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Red-tail  looked  the  ground 
over  and  decided  that  they  would  begin  house- 
building in  a  tall  tree  near  the  Naturalist's 
house.  The  Naturalist  was  much  pleased,  but 
anxious,  for  Tommy  had  passed  the  word 
around  that  a  pair  of  chicken  hawks  were  in 
the  neighborhood.  Within  a  mile  of  the  tree 
which  the  Red-tails  had  selected  there  are 
fourteen  houses.  At  each  of  these  fourteen 
homes  chickens  are  raised,  and,  accordingly, 
the  inhabitants  thereof  are  very  watchful  lest 
a  hawk  should  rear  a  family  in  the  neighbor- 
hood and  thus  endanger  the  lives  of  the  chick- 
ens. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Red-tail  lived  a  precarious 
life  during  the  following  weeks.  The  area  in 
which  they  might  nest  was  small,  and  thirteen 
guns  were  ready  loaded  and  war  already  de- 
clared. Whenever  a  small  boy  would  see 
them  soaring  high  overhead,  he  would 
scamper  to  the  house  to  give  the  alarm  that 
chicken  hawks  are  coming.  Dad  or  big 
brother  would  take  a  look  to  see  whether  there 
was  any  chance  to  get  within  gunshot.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Red-tail  kept  far  to  the  open  fields, 


A   SUMMER  WITH   THE   RED-TAILS 


31 


and  thus  avoided  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  a  near  investigation  of  a  poultry  yard. 

SETTING  UP  HOUSEKEEPING 
The  Naturalist  alone  knew  about  the  nest, 
although  thirteen  small  boys  would  have  given 
their  biggest  marble  to  find  it.  A  very  tall 
basswood  tree  in  the  very  middle  of  the  little 
wood  was  the  tree  selected.  The  nest  was  very 
bulky,  nearly  three  feet  across,  and  composed 
of  coarse  sticks.  As  it  was  built  early  in 
March,  before  the  trees  had  donned  their 


The  young  birds  kept  their  mouths  open  constantly,  even  when  being  photographed. 


32 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

summer  clothes,  the  Naturalist  trembled  every 
time  he  saw  a  neighbor  passing  that  way.  It 
was  so  big  that  it  could  be  seen  from  a  long  dis- 
tance. Few  people  have,  as  yet,  learned  to  look 
up,  and  not  down,  and  the  nest  escaped  detec- 
tion. As  days  passed  and  the  trees  put  forth 
their  leaves,  even  the  Naturalist  sometimes 
had  to  look  a  little  while  to  find  it,  and  he  no 
longer  feared  for  the  safety  of  the  big  birds. 

The  Naturalist  did  not  wish  to  cause  the 
birds  any  unnecessary  alarm  and  he  refrained 
from  an  examination  of  the  nest  until  Mrs. 
Red-tail  had  begun  to  incubate  the  eggs.  He 
felt  that  there  was  no  longer  any  danger  that 
they  would  voluntarily  desert  after  this  time. 
The  nest  was  fifty  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
the  tree  was  straight  and  smooth  and  had  few 
branches.  The  Naturalist  did  not  find  it  an 
easy  climb,  as  he  must  needs  stop  to  rest  and 
catch  his  breath  at  every  branch  which  would 
support  his  weight.  When  Mrs.  Red-tail  saw 
him  coming,  she  slipped  quietly  away  and 
hastily  disappeared.  Soon  she  had  joined  her 
mate,  and  together  they  circled  high  overhead, 
with  great  evident  anxiety  as  to  the  purpose  of 
the  Naturalist's  visit. 

When  at  last  the  nest  was  reached,  it  was 


A  SUMMER  WITH   THE   RED-TAILS         33 

found  to  occupy  the  highest  possible  position, 
and  there  was  but  a  poor  support  for  the  tired 
visitor.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  he  was 
able  to  lift  his  head  above  the  big  nest  and 
examine  the  contents.  The  structure  was  al- 
most flat,  with  only  a  slight  saucer-shaped  de- 
pression. The  lining  was  composed  of  but  a 
few  strips  of  bark,  and  three  dirty,  bluish- 
white  eggs  gave  promise  of  the  future. 

Try  as  he  would,  there  was  absolutely  no 
place  where  a  camera  might  be  placed  to  get 
a  satisfactory  photo  of  the  nest  and  eggs.  No 
other  trees  were  near  enough  to  serve  the  pur- 
pose, and  there  was  no  place  in  the  nest  tree 
which  would  furnish  support  and  give  proper 
view.  The  Naturalist  must  then  content  him- 
self to  wait  until  the  young  birds  appeared  in 
order  to  secure  a  photographic  record  of  the 
family  life,  and  even  this  was  unsatisfactory 
because  the  birds  must  be  removed  from  the 
nest. 

When  Mrs.  Red-tail  was  at  home,  she  set- 
tled so  close  on  her  eggs  that  she  could  with 
difficulty  be  seen  from  the  ground,  and  curi- 
ous small  boys  passing  by  could  find  no  evi- 
dence that  the  nest  was  occupied.  The  dis- 
tance from  the  ground  was  so  great  and  the 


34 OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

difficulties  of  the  climb  were  such  that  the  few 
that  chanced  to  see  it  were  content  to  decide 
that  it  was  a  last  year's  nest  and  unused. 
While  Mother  Red-tail  brooded  over  the  eggs, 
Father  Red-tail  spent  hours  sailing  high  in  the 
upper  air  or  watched  silently  from  the  top- 
most branch  of  a  dead  tree  that  furnished  a 
favorable  lookout  over  the  surrounding 
country. 

Finally  the  shells  opened,  and  three  downy 
little  birds  replaced  the  eggs  in  the  nest.  They 
were  very  weak  at  first,  and  as  downy  as  little 
ducks,  although  much  whiter  in  color.  Mrs. 
Red-tail  still  spent  most  of  her  time  on  the 
nest  for  several  days,  while  the  young  birds 
were  very  small.  The  demands  for  food  were 
slight  during  those  first  days,  and  a  mouse  or 
two  which  the  mother  would  tear  to  bits  fur- 
nished them  with  a  hearty  meal.  They  grew 
very  fast,  however,  and  soon  it  kept  both 
Father  and  Mother  Red-tail  very  busy  to  sup- 
ply food  for  the  growing  family. 

The  Naturalist  now  became  very  watchful 
and  spent  much  time  hidden  in  the  woods 
where  he  could  watch  the  nest  and  see  the 
parent  birds  when  they  fed  the  young.  He 
still  felt  some  anxiety  lest  one  or  both  of  the 


A  SUMMER  WITH   THE   RED-TAILS         35 

parent  birds  should  fall  victims  to  some  of  the 
thirteen  guns  that  were  kept  loaded  behind  the 
doors  of  thirteen  houses,  nearby,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  an  opportunity  to  catch  Father  and 
Mother  Red-tail  unawares.  He  also  wished  to 
see  for  himself  whether  the  Red-tail  family 
were  guilty  of  the  crimes  so  freely  charged  to 
them  and  which  had  led  to  the  loading  of  the 
thirteen  guns  and  the  declaration  of  war  at  the 
thirteen  nearby  farmhouses. 

Father  and  Mother  Red-tail  were  very  dis- 
creet and  kept  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  artil- 
lery that  only  waited  a  favorable  moment  to 
be  trained  upon  them.  They  wandered  far 
afield,  or  could  be  seen  soaring  higher  and 
higher  until  they  became  mere  specks  in  the 
sky  or  disappeared  altogether.  Sometimes 
they  would  be  gone  for  a  long  time,  while  at 
other  times  they  would  return  within  half  an 
hour  with  food  for  the  young.  At  first  when 
Mother  Red-tail  brought  the  food,  she  would 
alight  on  the  side  of  the  nest  and  consume 
much  time  in  tearing  it  to  bits  and  feeding  the 
youngsters.  After  a  little  as  they  grew 
stronger,  she  permitted  them  to  carve  the  meat 
for  themselves,  which  they  did  by  holding  it 
in  their  talons  and  tearing  it  with  their  beaks. 


36 OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

Growing  birds  have  voracious  appetites, 
and  by  the  middle  of  May  they  were  consum- 
ing much  food.  On  the  eighteenth  of  that 
month  the  Naturalist  decided  that  it  was  time 
to  get  some  kind  of  a  photograph,  so  the  three 
youngsters  were  let  down  from  their  high 
home  in  a  basket.  All  the  time  both  parents 
wheeled  about  far  overhead  and  screamed  in  a 
most  distressed  manner.  The  young  birds  also 
protested  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  They 
kept  their  mouths  open  constantly,  even  when 
being  photographed,  and  struck  with  their 
talons  whenever  a  hand  came  near.  As  there 
was  no  better  place,  all  three  were  placed  in  a 
row  on  an  old  log  with  a  dead  pocket  gopher, 
which  had  just  been  brought  for  their  dinner. 
After  the  picture  had  been  taken  they  were 
hauled  up  again  in  the  basket  and  replaced  in 
the  nest. 

On  this  red-letter  day,  when  they  posed  for 
their  first  picture,  they  had  three  pocket 
gophers,  a  large  Franklin's  spermophile,  or 
prairie  gray  squirrel,  and  two  field  mice 
served  up  in  the  best  hawk  style.  This  menu 
was  fairly  typical  of  their  daily  fare,  although 
it  was  varied  with  rats  and  striped  ground 
squirrels  occasionally. 


A  SUMMER  WITH   THE   RED-TAILS         37 

Not  only  were  there  thirteen  guns  ready 
loaded  for  the  time  when  Father  or  Mother 
Red-tail  should  visit  one  of  the  thirteen  barn- 
yards in  search  of  chicken  for  dinner,  but  the 
Naturalist  also  had  a  camera  loaded  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  a  likeness  of  these  same 
birds.  Many  were  the  hours  spent  in  patient 
watching,  in  order  to  learn  more  about  the 
habits  of  the  birds  and  to  get  their  pictures. 

However,  it  was  not  one  of  the  thirteen  guns, 
but  the  camera  in  the  hands  of  the  Naturalist 
which  finally  took  Mother  Red-tail  by  sur- 
prise. She  was  none 
the  worse  for  the  ex- 
perience, and  the  Na- 
turalist considers  her 
picture  as  one  of  his 
most  prized  posses- 
sions. Both  birds 
were  so  exceedingly 
shy  that  it  was  diffi- 
cult, indeed,  to  get 
within  gunshot,  to  say 
nothing  of  camera 
shot  of  them.  It  was 
a  pleasing  sight  to  see 
the  two  birds  flying 


It  was  not   one  of   the   thirteen    guns,  but   the 

camera  in  the  hands  of  the  Naturalist  which 

finally  took  Mother  Red-tail  by  surprise. 


38 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

upward  in  wide  circles  on  a  warm  summer 
afternoon.  As  they  would  wheel  in  the  air,  the 
rich  reddish  brown  color  of  the  upper  side  of 
the  tail  feathers  could  be  plainly  seen.  This 
marking,  together  with  the  narrow  white  tip 
and  faint  black  band,  is  very  conspicuous  with 
the  birds,  and  from  it  they  get  their  name. 

They  would  mount  high,  and  then  higher, 
until  it  fairly  made  the  man  and  the  boy  who 
were  watching  dizzy  to  contemplate  the 
height  to  which  they  had  attained.  When  they 
had  finally  disappeared  from  sight  the  Natu- 
ralist would  turn  to  the  boy  with  some  remark 
about  the  big  birds  and  to  regret  that  with  the 
thirteen  guns  constantly  loaded  and  the  hun- 
dreds of  other  guns  all  over  the  State,  the  last 
big  birds  could  soon  be  expected  to  disappear 
from  the  Iowa  sky. 

As  the  time  drew  near  when  the  young  birds 
would  leave  the  nest,  he  felt  some  anxiety  as 
to  their  fate  when  first  they  should  try  their 
wings,  but  he  was  unprepared  for  what  hap- 
pened. Since  the  Naturalist  had  spent  more 
than  eight  weeks  in  observing  the  birds,  and 
during  all  that  time  they  had  not  departed 
from  the  paths  of  rectitude,  he  had  come  to 
believe  that  the  crimes  charged  to  the  Red- 


He  would  alight  in  close  proximity  to  some  passer-by. 


One  youngster  lacked  the  worldly  wisdom  of  his  fellows. 


40 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

tails  were  based  on  circumstantial  evidence 
and  that  the  verdict  of  an  unprejudiced  jury 
would  be  unquestionably  "Not  guilty!" 

It  so  happened  that  on  Memorial  Day 
Tommy  and  a  neighbor,  having  nothing  else 
to  do,  were  walking  through  the  woods,  and 
chanced  to  see  the  big  nest  in  the  top  of  the 
basswood  tree.  The  young  birds  were  now  al- 
most fully  fledged  and  could  be  plainly  seen  on 
their  nest.  The  distance  to  the  nest  was  so 
great  that  neither  was  equal  to  the  test  of 
climbing  so  high,  but  with  a  long  pole  they 
pushed  it  down  after  they  had  reached  a  safe 
position  on  one  of  the  higher  branches.  With 
a  heavy  fall  the  nest  and  all  three  of  the  young 
birds  came  tumbling  down.  Although  the 
birds  could  not  fly,  they  broke  the  fall  suffi- 
ciently with  their  wings  to  be  unhurt. 

The  arrival  of  the  visitors  had  been  so  timed 
as  to  reach  the  nest  just  after  Mother  Red-tail 
had  brought  their  dinner.  Of  late  the  appe- 
tites of  the  three  hearty  youngsters  had  taxed 
the  resources  of  their  industrious  parents  to  the 
limit,  and  to-day,  instead  of  the  usual  pocket 
gophers  and  mice,  a  stray  chicken  had  been 
brought  to  the  nest.  It  was  still  warm  and 
bleeding  when  the  nest  was  thrown  down. 


A  SUMMER  WITH   THE   RED-TAILS         41 

At  last  both  the  birds  and  their  champion 
were  caught.  Was  not  here  evidence  enough 
to  convict  both  the  Naturalist  and  the  hawks? 
It  was  at  best  a  sorry  explanation  that  he  was 
able  to  make,  but  he  did  succeed  in  getting 
possession  of  the  young  birds  and  thus  saving 
their  necks.  He  took  them  home  and  again 
posed  them  for  pictures,  and  the  next  day  re- 
turned them  to  the  woods. 

The  youngsters  made  the  best  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  hid  themselves  among  the  leaves  of 
the  smaller  trees.  Their  shrill  cry  of  "Here, 
here,  here,  here,"  with  a  constantly  rising  in- 
flection, served  to  call  the  watchful  parents 
who  brought  them  food.  They  changed  their 
location,  moving  from  tree  to  tree  frequently, 
but  the  Naturalist  still  kept  watch  as  before. 
Now,  as  before,  the  parent  birds  still  con- 
tinued to  bring  gophers  and  mice,  and  occa- 
sionally a  rat.  On  one  occasion  a  second  stray 
chicken  was  brought  in,  but  this  time  there  was 
no  one  to  observe  the  deflection  but  the  Natu- 
ralist. However,  the  mischief  was  done.  A 
dozen  naturalists  could  not  convince  Tommy 
that  the  birds  had  not  fed  from  his  chicken 
yard  all  summer. 

It  was  but  a  short  time  until  they  could  fly, 


42 


OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


but  one  youngster  lacked  the  worldly  wisdom 
of  his  fellows,  and  would  frequently  alight  in 
close  proximity  to  some  passer-by.  Fortu- 
nately, the  timely  arrival  of  the  Naturalist 
saved  him  from  an  untimely  end,  until  he  too 
finally  learned  to  mount  high  and  still  higher, 
until  he  became  but  a  point  in  the  blue  of  the 
summer  sky.  The  Naturalist  now  saw  them 
only  on  infrequent  occasions,  although  he  still 
watched  the  big  birds  soaring  above  his  head 
whenever  opportunity  offered.  When  he 
heard  their  shrill  cry  of  "Free,  free"  he  was 
reminded  of  the  days  when  Father  Red-tail 


The  youngsters  made  the  best  of  the  situation. 


A   SUMMER  WITH   THE  RED-TAILS         43 

soared  high  above  the  nest,  anxiously  watch- 
ing for  the  appearance  of  enemies,  while 
Mother  Red-tail  fed  the  youngsters. 

When  late  in  the  summer  he  had  watched 
their  last  flight  and  they  had  departed  for 
warmer  climes,  he  sighed  with  regret,  "Will 
they  return  I  wonder?" 


THE  CHICKEN  THIEF 


THE  CHICKEN  THIEF 

GETTING  THE   EVIDENCE  AGAINST  MR.   COOPER 
HAWK  AND  HIS  FAMILY 

TOMMY  JONES  was  losing  his  chick- 
ens; there  was  no  question  about  that, 
and  Tommy  was  very  much  disturbed  by  the 
occurrence.  Mrs.  Tommy  had  started  the  in- 
cubator very  early  that  spring  and  had  kept  it 
going.  She  had  also  utilized  every  setting 
hen,  with  the  result  that  the  back  yard  was 
fairly  overflowing  with  chickens.  Nearly 
every  night  there  would  be  one  or  more  miss- 
ing. Sometimes  there  would  be  as  many  as 
three  less  when  they  shut  them  up  at  night  than 
when  they  were  released  in  the  morning. 

When  Tommy  watched  Father  Red-tail 
soaring  high  overhead  in  the  summer  sky,  he 
remembered  the  day  when  the  Naturalist  had 
been  confronted  with  absolute  proof  that  the 
Red-tails  were  chicken  thieves,  and  sput- 
tered about  his  neighbor  and  the  chicken 
hawks.  If  Father  Red-tail  happened  to  be 

47 


48  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

in  sight  at  the  time  when  new  losses  were  dis- 
covered among  his  chickens,  his  feelings 
nearly  overcame  him.  On  such  occasion,  if 
opportunity  offered,  he  was  very  free  to  tell 
the  Naturalist,  in  language  more  forceful  than 
eloquent,  just  what  he  thought  of  him  and  his 
hawks. 

This  time  the  Naturalist  was  not  entirely 
above  reproach,  for  he  had  a  secret.  He  knew 
the  thief  and  knew  where  the  stolen  birds  were 
served  daily  at  dinner.  The  Naturalist  was 
not  in  sympathy  with  the  thief,  but  he  was 
anxious  to  learn  the  real  facts  concerning  the 
habits  of  an  undesirable  family  of  neighbors 
and  was  patiently  watching  them  to  find  out. 
Besides,  if  Tommy  Jones  had  used  his  eyes  to 
good  advantage  he  might  have  known  also. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cooper  Hawk,  like  criminals 
generally,  were  very  shy  in  their  movements. 
While  they  fed  daily  from  the  poultry  yards 
of  the  neighborhood,  few  persons  ever  saw 
them  come,  and  when  they  were  seen  their 
movements  were  so  swift  that  the  observer  had 
but  a  confused  idea  of  the  bird  he  saw. 
Tommy  Jones  was  not  the  only  one  who 
charged  the  Red-tails  with  the  theft  of  the 
chickens  taken  by  the  Cooper  Hawks.  While 


THE   CHICKEN  THIEF 


49 


Father  and  Mother  Red-tail  soared  high  over 
the  fields  in  search  of  gophers  the  Cooper 
Hawks  kept  to  the  cover  of  the  woods. 

When  all  was  quiet  in  the  farm-yard  and  the 


Cooper  Hawk  would  silently  alight  on    some  object  which  furnished  a  view 
of  the  poultry  yard. 

farmer  and  his  family  were  within  doors, 
Cooper  Hawk  would  silently  alight  on  some 
object  which  furnished  a  view  of  the  poultry 
yard.  When  a  favorable  opportunity  offered 
he  would  dash  in  pursuit  of  an  unfortunate 
chicken,  and,  seizing  it,  fly  away  so  swiftly  as 


50 OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

to  offer  little  chance  of  pursuit.  Safe  in  the 
shelter  of  the  woods  he  would  make  a  meal  at 
his  leisure.  The  Naturalist,  being  familiar 
with  their  habits,  often  observed  them  in  their 
raids,  while  Tommy  Jones  and  his  neighbors 
swore  at  Father  Red-tail  soaring  afar  in  the 
upper  air. 

The  Naturalist  had  heard  the  shrill  call, 
used  only  in  the  nesting  season,  many  times  be- 
fore he  was  able  to  locate  the  nest.  The  loca- 
tion chosen  was  as  far  from  a  house  as  could 
well  be  found  in  that  thickly  settled  neighbor- 
hood. It  was  placed  under  the  sheltering 
leaves  of  a  heavy  growth  of  Virginia  creeper, 
in  a  walnut  tree,  thirty-five  feet  above  ground. 
The  tree  grew  near  the  river  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  nearest  human  habitation.  So  clev- 
erly was  it  hidden  from  sight  that  even  after 
the  Naturalist  had  discovered  its  location,  he 
could  scarcely  see  it  from  the  ground. 

It  was  on  June  8  that  he  first  climbed  the 
tree  and  examined  the  nest.  The  structure  was 
about  the  size  of  a  crow's  nest  but  composed 
of  much  smaller  twigs.  Most  of  the  twigs 
used  were  not  larger  than  those  used  by  the 
wren  in  making  her  home,  and  few  of  them 
were  as  large  as  a  lead  pencil.  There  was  only 


THE   CHICKEN   THIEF 


51 


a  slight  depression  in  the  center  of  the  nearly 
flat  nest  and  no  lining,  excepting  a  few  scales 
of  bark.  In  the  «nest  were  three  white  eggs 
with  a  slight  bluish  tinge.  Evidently  incuba- 
tion had  been  in  progress  several  days,  for  all 
three  eggs  hatched  on  June  20,  only  twelve 
days  later,  and  most  authorities  give  twenty- 
four  days  as  the  period  of  incubation  of  the 
cooper  hawk. 

When  the  Naturalist  undertook  the  task  of 
making  a  photograph  of  the  nest  and  eggs,  he 
found  that  it  was  no  easy  task.  It  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  reach  the  site,  but  there  was  no  limb  on 
which  to  stand  nor  any  suitable  support  within 
reach  on  which  to  place  the  camera.  Accord- 
ingly, after  trying 
various  schemes 
without  result,  he 
strapped  himself 
to  the  body  of  the 
tree  immediately 
above  the  nest  and, 
with  both  hands 
free  to  manipulate 
the  camera,  se- 
cured the  picture 
shown  herewith. 


In  the  nest  were  three  white  eggs 
with  a  slight  bluish  tinge. 


52 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

The  situation  was  not  very  satisfactory,  as 
the  outline  of  the  nest  could  not  well  be  shown 
directly  from  above  and  at  such  close  range. 
After  the  eggs  had  hatched,  he  made  several 
attempts  to  get  a  satisfactory  photograph  of 
the  young  in  the  nest  from  a  different  location. 
Making  pictures  so  high  from  the  ground  is 
rather  unsatisfactory  at  best,  since  one  does  not 
care  to  fall  even  thirty-five  feet,  and  one  has 
not  much  margin  for  work  with  his  body 
strapped  tightly  to  a  tree.  After  several  at- 
tempts, a  picture  of  the  young  birds  peering 
over  the  nest  was  secured,  although  at  too  close 
range  to  give  a  proper  impression  of  condi- 
tions. The  ends  of  the  twigs  composing  the 
nest  were  so  much  nearer  the  lens  than  were 
the  birds,  that  they  appear  much  larger  in  the 
picture  than  they  were  in  fact.  After  working 
with  little  satisfaction  to  get  a  picture  from 
other  points,  he  again  climbed  to  the  place 
above  the  nest  where  he  had  made  his  first  at- 
tempt, and  made  an  exposure  looking  directly 
down  upon  them. 

When  the  young  first  appeared  in  the  nest, 
they  were  covered  with  white  down  that  gave 
them  something  the  appearance  of  little  ducks. 
When  the  first  feathers  began  to  show  through 


The  young  birds  peering  over  the  edge  of  the  nest. 


Looking  directly  down  upon  them. 


54 OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

the  down,  they  were  eighteen  days  old,  and  it 
was  at  that  time  that  the  picture  was  taken. 
From  this  time  on,  the  birds  grew  very  fast, 
and  a  great  change  could  be  noticed  in  their 
appearance  from  day  to  day.  Ten  days  later 
they  were  nearly  fledged  and  beginning  to 
threaten  to  leave  the  nest.  At  times  they 
would  walk  out  on  the  limbs  of  the  tree  as 
though  preparing  for  flight. 

During  these  days  the  Naturalist  was  mak- 
ing daily  visits  to  see  how  the  birds  grew,  and 
also  to  see  what  became  of  Tommy  Jones's 
chickens.  The  parent  birds  were  very  shy, 
and  usually  left  as  quickly  as  possible  on  his 
approach.  Father  and  Mother  Red-tail,  on 
the  other  hand,  remained  close  at  hand, 
anxiously  watching,  whenever  he  visited  their 
nest.  Mother  Sparrow  Hawk  at  times  refused 
to  leave  her  young  when  newly  hatched,  even 
when  he  approached  within  two  feet  of  her. 
Mother  Screech  Owl  had  even  permitted  him 
to  lift  her  from  the  nest  when  her  babies  were 
little,  and  attacked  him  furiously  after  he  had 
released  her,  but  neither  Mother  nor  Father 
Cooper  Hawk  would  take  any  chances  on  re- 
maining to  see  what  happened  when  he  visited 
their  nest.  He  was  never  able  to  approach 


THE  CHICKEN  THIEF 


55 


very  near  the  nest  without  his  presence  being 
detected,  and  the  most  he  could  get,  as  a  rule, 
was  a  fleeting  glimpse,  through  the  trees,  of  a 
swiftly  flying  bird.  The  few  times  when 


At  times  they  would  walk  out  on  a  limb  as  though  preparing  for  flight. 


Mother  Cooper  Hawk  did  remain  she  kept 
herself  hidden  among  the  leaves  and  not  very 
near  at  hand. 

He  did  not  find  it  an  easy  matter  to  deter- 
mine their  menu.  The  Sparrow  Hawk  family 
left  the  fragments  of  their  dinner  in  the  nest 
so  that  he  easily  determined  daily  what  they 


56 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

were  eating.  The  Red-tail  family  seldom 
failed  to  leave  a  partly  eaten  carcass,  or  at  least 
feet  and  tails  at  hand,  to  show  on  what  they 
had  dined,  but  the  Cooper  Hawk  family  were 
skilled  in  removing  every  trace  of  incrimina- 
ting evidence.  Seldom  did  even  a  feather  re- 
main, and  never  the  usual  fragments  of  legs 
and  other  appendages. 

GETTING  AT  THE  MENU 

After  trying  for  several  days  to  see  the 
mother  bird  in  the  act  of  feeding  her  young, 
or  to  find  some  trace  of  partly  eaten  food 
which  would  give  reliable  information  con- 
cerning their  habits,  he  decided  that  there  was 
but  one  way  to  get  results — to  visit  the  nest 
frequently,  and  whenever  they  had  recently 
been  fed  to  compel  them  to  disgorge  their 
dinners  in  the  interest  of  science.  This  proved 
to  be  a  disagreeable  task,  but  it  was  followed 
faithfully  for  many  days.  While  rather  un- 
pleasant business,  it  had  the  great  advantage 
of  making  an  accurate  determination  possible 
in  many  cases.  At  times  the  mutilation  was  so 
great  that  the  species  could  not  be  easily  deter- 
mined with  certainty  in  the  case  of  small  birds. 

It  soon   became   apparent  where  Tommy 


THE  CHICKEN  THIEF 57 

Jones's  chickens  were  going.  During  the  first 
few  weeks  of  the  observation  no  evidence  of 
any  food  other  than  poultry,  pigeons,  or  birds 
was  found.  Breakfast,  dinner  or  supper,  it 
was  spring  chicken,  pigeon,  or  quail.  Of 
course,  the  diet  was  varied  with  such  deli- 
cacies as  robin,  flicker,  or  thrush,  but  such 
commonplace  food  as  mice  and  gophers  was 
spurned.  Chicken,  being  the  most  easily 
available,  was  perhaps  more  often  served  than 
any  other  single  item. 

When  it  comes  to  supplying  six  to  a  dozen 
chickens  a  week  to  a  family  of  hawks,  even  a 
large  flock  soon  shows  the  effects,  and  the 
Naturalist  did  not  wonder  that  Tommy  was  on 
the  warpath.  When  finally  the  Naturalist  told 
Tommy  about  the  nest  and  the  daily  menu, 
his  indignation  knew  no  bounds.  What  he 
thought  of  the  Naturalist  is  better  imagined 
than  told.  Still  he  refused  to  be  convinced 
that  the  Red-tail  family  had  not  been  equally 
guilty.  About  the  first  week  in  July  the 
farmers  were  putting  up  their  hay  and  harvest- 
ing their  small  grain.  By  the  rath  the  fields 
were  clean,  and  the  ground  squirrels  could  be 
seen  everywhere  scampering  about.  Ground 
squirrel  now  became  for  a  time  a  favorite 


58 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


article  of  diet.  However,  seldom  did  more 
than  a  day  elapse  without  a  chicken  being 
served  in  proper  Cooper  Hawk  style,  even 
then.  The  prairie  gray  squirrel  (Franklin's 
spermophile)  and  the  striped  ground  squirrel 
were  the  only  small  animals  that  the  Naturalist 
knew  them  to  take.  In  fact,  no  insects  or  rep- 
tiles or  other  small  animals,  as  far  as  he  could 
tell,  entered  into  the  diet. 

When  the  first  of  the  three  young  birds  left 
the  nest  it  was  captured,  and  together  with  the 
other  two  taken  to  the  home  of  the  Naturalist, 
where  they  were  placed  in  a  large  cage.  Their 


Two  of  the  birds  finally  killed  and  ate  the  third  one. 


THE  CHICKEN  THIEF 59 

food  from  that  time  on  consisted  of  raw  meat, 
mostly  beef  scraps.  They  did  not  seem  to  get 
on  well,  even  with  each  other,  and  apparently 
their  appetites  were  not  satisfied  without  a 
mixture  of  feathers  with  their  meat.  At  any 
rate,  two  of  the  birds  finally  killed  and  ate  the 
third  one.  In  all  his  experience  with  birds  the 
Naturalist  had  never  seen  a  family  where  there 
was  such  an  entire  lack  of  interest  in  the  young 
on  the  part  of  the  parent  birds.  Some  birds 
that  are  extremely  shy  are  very  solicitous  con- 
cerning their  young,  but  like  some  human 
criminals,  self-preservation  seemed  to  be  the 
only  thing  that  greatly  concerned  the  cooper 
hawks. 


THE 

NEIGHBORLY 
SCREECH  OWLS 


THE  NEIGHBORLY  SCREECH  OWLS 

THEY  LIVED  IN  A  HOLLOW  TREE  NEXT  DOOR  AND 

SHOWED  THAT  THEY  AT  LEAST  HAD 

NOTHING  TO  CONCEAL 

MR.  SCREECH  OWL  was  calling  to  his 
mate — "Wher-r-r-r-e  are  you-u-u?" 
The  Naturalist  was  lying  in  the  grass  enjoying 
the  moonlight  and  listening  to  the  night 
sounds.  The  insistent  "Katydid,  Katydid, 
Katydid"  and  the  low  chirping  of  the  crickets 
were  soothing  to  tired  nerves  after  a  day  spent 
in  wrestling  with  abstract  problems  in  the 
study.  When  Mr.  Screech  Owl  called, 
"Wher-r-r-r-e  are  you-u-u-u?"  to  his  mate  it 
was  not  Mrs.  Screech  Owl  who  answered,  but 
the  Naturalist.  Mr.  Screech  Owl  was  not 
exactly  deceived,  but  he  was  interested,  and 
flying  to  a  low  hanging  branch  over  the 
Naturalist's  head  he  stared  down  with  his  big 
round  eyes  and  questioned,  "Who-o-o-o  are 
you-u-u-u?" 

About  this  time  Mrs.  Screech  Owl  arrived, 
and,  alighting  on  a  nearby  tree,  called  to  her 

63 


64 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


mate  mournfully.  Mr.  Screech  Owl  then  be- 
gan snapping  his  bill  at  the  Naturalist  in  an 
angry  manner,  as  if  having  decided  that,  being 
a  creature  of  the  day,  he  had  no  business  to  be 


They  lived  very  near  to  the  Naturalist's  house  in  the  woods. 

abroad  after  night.  After  a  time  the  owls 
went  on  about  their  own  affairs  and  left  the 
Naturalist  to  fall  asleep  with  no  cover  over  his 
head  but  the  summer  stars.  As  time  passed 
and  these  evening  visits  were  often  repeated, 
the  screech  owls  became  better  acquainted 
with  their  strange  visitor  and  came  to  regard 
him  as  a  harmless  fellow.  They  even  per- 


THE   NEIGHBORLY   SCREECH   OWLS         65 

mitted  him,  on  occasion,  to  pry  into  their 
family  affairs  without  taking  offense. 

They  lived  very  near  to  the  Naturalist's 
house  in  the  woods.  Unlike  the  Red-tails, 
they  were  not  inclined  to  build  an  elaborate 
home,  but  took  possession  of  a  hollow  tree  that 
had  been  vacated  by  a  fox  squirrel  family  a 
few  months  before.  They  did  not  even  take 
the  trouble  to  remove  the  rubbish  left  by  the 
previous  occupants,  but  Mrs.  Screech  Owl 
laid  her  five  white  eggs  without  any  special 
preparation  in  the  way  of  a  nest.  By  the  time 
the  last  egg  had  been  laid  the  others  were  so 
dirty  that  it  was  hard  to  believe  they  had  ever 
been  white. 

When  the  baby  screech  owls  appeared  in  the 
nest,  they  were  dainty,  downy  little  things,  and 
Mother  Screech  Owl  was  careful  to  keep  them 
covered.  The  Naturalist  was  very  curious 
about  the  little  family  and  must  see  them  fre- 
quently to  satisfy  his  curiosity.  When  he  ap- 
proached the  nest,  Father  Screech  Owl 
snapped  his  bill  and  threatened  violence,  but 
Mother  Screech  Owl  never  stirred  from  her 
place  in  the  nest.  She  permitted  the  Natural- 
ist to  lift  her  carefully  while  he  looked  at  the 
youngsters,  and  then  put  her  down  again. 


66 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


On  one  occasion  Father  Screech  Owl  lost 
his  temper  and  struck  the  Naturalist  on  the 
head  with  his  sharp  claws.  Such  a  bold  attack 
by  so  small  a  bird  amused  him,  but  he  was 
more  careful  in  his  movements  afterward,  so 
as  not  to  alarm  the  anxious  parents  of  the 
downy  nestlings. 


The  Naturalist  had  made  some  boxes  of  old  lumber  and  had  fitted  them  up  for 
housekeeping. 


THE   NEIGHBORLY   SCREECH   OWLS 


67 


ily  only  went  abroad 
fall,  and  the  Natu- 
never  able 


The  fam- 
after  night- 
ralist  was 
to  see  the 
in  the  act 
feeding 
theyoung. 


They    gave    a    daily 

Father  Screech  Owl  lost  his  temper.         aCCOUntof     their     bill 

of  fare,  however,  in  a  most  peculiar  way.  Un- 
like the  hawks,  the  owls  swallowed  their  food 
with  as  little  ceremony  as  possible  and  later 
threw  out  the  remnants  of  bones  and  fur  in  a 
compact  little  ball.  By  examining  the  ball  he 
knew  exactly  what  they  had  for  dinner,  as  well 
as  for  lunch. 

For  a  time  he  felt  some  anxiety  for  the  song 
birds  nesting  in  the  garden,  but  as  weeks 
passed  and  he  found  remains  of  nothing  but 
mice  and  insects,  he  decided  that  screech  owls 
were  more  satisfactory  for  ridding  the  place 
of  mice  than  were  cats.  The  little  owls 
learned  after  awhile  that  the  barn  was  a  good 
place  to  go  for  mice,  and  sometimes  the  Na- 
turalist would  find  one  of  them  sitting  in  the 


68 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


barn  window  when  he  went  to  finish  the  chores 
after  dark. 

The  babies  in  the  hollow  tree  grew  very 
fast,  and  soon  they  were  very  comical  little  fel- 
lows with  part  feathers  and  part  down.  One 
day  the  Naturalist  placed  them  in  a  row  on  a 
nearby  limb.  They  were  much  disturbed  by 
the  light,  and  blinked  unceasingly.  The 
anxious  parents  became  greatly  excited  and 
flew  back  and  forth  above  them,  snapping 
their  bills  and  complaining  until  they  were 
replaced  in  the  hollow  tree.  As  the  young 
birds  neared  maturity  they  became  so  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Naturalist  that  they  showed 
little  anxiety  because  of  his  visits,  although 
they  sometimes  looked  very  much  surprised 

when  he  placed  them  in 
some  strange  situation. 

After  the  family  was 
grown,       Father       and 
Mother     Screech     Owl 
decided  to  move.     The 
,      hollow  tree  seemed  very 
much      deserted      after 
yk  their  departure.    In  the 
r  meantime  the  Naturalist 
had   made   some   boxes 
mmmmmmmmmmmm^mf^mmmm^ 

They   were    very  comical    little  fellows    with 
part  feathers  and  part  down. 


THE   NEIGHBORLY   SCREECH   OWLS 


69 


of  old  lumber  and  had  fitted  them  up  ready 
for  housekeeping.  They  were  made  deep  and 
the  cavity  was  roomy,  just  the  thing  for  a 


They  were  much  disturbed  by  the  light,  and  blinked  unceasingly. 

flicker  family  he  had  thought.  Some  were 
placed  on  poles  near  the  edge  of  the  wood  and 
some  nailed  to  the  side  of  the  trees  near  the 
house. 

Since  woodpeckers  do  not  supply  any  nest- 
ing material,  the  Naturalist  had  placed  a 
quantity  of  cork  chips  in  each  of  the  boxes  to 
supply  the  purpose  of  a  nest.  Not  all  of  the 
boxes  were  occupied  by  flickers  and  another 
summer  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Screech  Owl  took  a 


70 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

fancy  to  them.  Father  Screech  Owl  lived  in 
one  box  not  far  from  the  kitchen  door,  while 
Mother  Screech  Owl  raised  the  new  family  in 
one  nailed  to  the  side  of  a  tree  not  far  away. 

By  this  time  the  boys  were  interested  in  the 
owl  family  also,  so  that  there  were  numerous 
visitors  to  the  home  of  the  birds  in  the  box. 
The  days  passed  quickly  and  the  youngsters 
were  getting  crowded  in  their  narrow  quarters. 
Where  Mother  Screech  Owl  had  been  very 
comfortable  with  her  eggs,  four  grown  chil- 
dren found  very  cramped  quarters. 

One  summer  evening,  one  more  venture- 
some than  the  rest  tried  his  wings.  It  was  not 
long  after  until  the  last  one  had  left  the  box 
and  taken  to  the  trees.  The  Naturalist  re- 
joiced in  so  many  interesting  neighbors.  He 
would  go  out  in  the  early  evening  and  call, 
"Wher-r-r-r-e  are  you-u-u-u?"  First  one  and 
then  another  of  the  owls  would  answer, 
"Who-o-o-o  are  you-u-u-u?"  Thus  it  came 
about  that  the  owls  called  to  the  Naturalist 
and  the  Naturalist  called  to  them  at  the  close 
of  nearly  every  day.  While  the  weird  call  was 
music  to  the  Naturalist,  an  occasional  visitor 
who  was  not  familiar  with  them  would  shiver 
at  the  sound,  and  one  half  grown  boy  was 


THE   NEIGHBORLY  SCREECH   OWLS 


71 


afraid  to  go  to  bed  alone  because  of  the  dole- 
ful sound. 

On  warm  nights  the  Naturalist  loved  to  roll 
up  in  a  blanket  and  lie  in  the  grass.  One  after 
another  of  the  birds  would  come  and  alight 
above  his  head  and  converse  in  the  friendliest 
manner.  From  them  he  tried  to  learn  the  mys- 
tery of  the  night  and  looking  up  at  the  stars 
wondered  whether  other  Naturalists  were 
making  friends  with  other  owls  on  the  planets 
revolving  about  the  specks  of  light  in  the  infi- 
nite depths  of  the  heavens  above.  His  specula- 


By  this  time  the  boys  were  interested  in  the  owl  family  also,  so  that  there  were 
numerous  visitors  to  the  home  of  the  birds  in  the  box. 


72 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


tions  were  to  no  purpose,  for  the  murmur  of 
the  night  voices  gradually  grew  faint  in  his 
ears  and  it  would  seem  but  a  moment  until  he 
awoke  with  the  sun  streaming  full  in  his  face. 
The  Screech  Owls  were  nowhere  to  be  seen, 
nor  would  they  again  respond  to  his  call  until 
the  shadows  again  were  falling. 

As  the  nights  grew  frosty  and  the  voices  of 
the  crickets  were  no  longer  heard,  the  Natu- 
ralist still  called  to  the  owls  in  early  evening. 
The  occasions  were  less  frequent,  nor  were 
they  prolonged  since  it  was  no  longer  pleasant 
to  lie  on  the  ground  in  the  moonlight.  Some- 
times on  a  winter  day  when  the  sky  was  gray, 

HHKHB^SHBHBHHl  a    screech    owl 

would  fly  out  to 
take  a  look 
around.  At 
other  times  he 
would  appear  at 
the  entrance  of 
the  box  where 
he  was  spending 
the  winter  days, 
and  remain 
looking  out  for 
hours  at  a  time. 

On  a  winter  day  when  the  sky  was  gray. 


THE   NEIGHBORLY   SCREECH   OWLS         73 

Sometimes,  when  the  Naturalist  missed  the 
friendly  creatures  of  the  summer  day  which 
had  long  since  gone  to  warmer  climes,  he 
would  go  to  the  box  and  arouse  the  little  owl. 
It  would  fly  out  into  the  light  and  sit  for  a  mo- 
ment blinking  in  the  sun  and  then  sail  away 
to  find  a  dark  place  among  the  shadows  of  the 
wood. 

Although  the  Naturalist  never  knew  one 
of  these  friendly  little  birds  to  commit  a  single 
questionable  act,  there  were  some  who  would 
not  have  hesitated  to  take  their  lives  had 
opportunity  offered.  They  were  accused  of 
catching  birds  and  chickens,  and  other  un- 
likely crimes.  Their  accusers  did  not  think 
far  enough  to  know  that  they  were  too  small 
to  take  anything  but  very  young  chickens 
and  that  even  these  very  young  chickens  were 
never  abroad  at  night,  the  only  time  when  the 
owl  hunts  for  its  prey.  One  evening,  just  at 
early  dusk,  one  of  them  alighted  on  a  post  near 
Tommy  Jones's  barn.  Tommy  with  his  ever 
ready  gun  did  not  fail  to  take  note  of  its  pres- 
ence, and  rested  his  gun  across  the  fence  to  in- 
sure a  good  aim  in  the  failing  light.  Just  then 
a  mouse  ran  out  from  under  the  barn  and  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  owl.  Down  went 


74 OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

the  bird,  and,  catching  the  mouse,  returned  to 
its  perch  on  the  post.  For  once  Tommy  did 
not  shoot. 

Only  that  morning  he  had  caught  his  old  cat 
in  the  act  of  killing  a  young  chicken.  For  days 
the  young  chickens  had  been  missing,  one  after 
another,  and  he  had  blamed  it  all  on  the  skunks 
and  hawks  which  the  Naturalist  had  be- 
friended. Now  he  had  seen  with  his  own  eyes 
the  little  owl  catch  the  mouse  that  he  had  kept 
the  cat  to  kill.  Tommy  put  down  his  gun, 
scratched  his  head  and  turned  and  walked 
toward  the  house.  Thus  was  the  life  of  the 
screech  owl  saved  and  the  Naturalist  vindi- 
cated. 


THE  POLECAT 


THE  POLECAT 

IT  was  a  bleak  day  in  midwinter  when  the 
Naturalist  started  out  for  his  usual  walk. 
The  sky  was  overcast  and  a  light  snow  covered 
the  ground — just  the  kind  of  day  when  one 
enjoys  a  book  and  a  snug  seat  by  the  fire.  As 
he  entered  the  bit  of  woods  near  his  home  a 
flock  of  tree  sparrows  and  juncos  flew  out  of 
the  underbrush  and  alighted  in  the  trees.  A 
chickadee  eyed  him  suspiciously,  as  if  in  doubt 
as  to  his  identity.  The  residents  of  the  wood 
had  come  to  feel  safe  with  him  and  seldom 
manifested  any  particular  anxiety  because  of 
his  presence. 

After  looking  about  for  a  time  for  some- 
thing of  special  interest,  he  chanced  upon  the 
tracks  of  a  little  spotted  skunk  (spilogale  in- 
terrupta],  commonly  known  by  the  name 
"polecat."  Since  the  snow  was  fresh,  the 
tracks  offered  an  opportunity  to  see  some- 
thing of  what  had  taken  place  in  the  wood  the 
night  before.  He,  accordingly,  followed,  at  a 
leisurely  gait,  the  path  taken  by  the  little  an- 
imal a  few  hours  previously.  The  Naturalist 

77 


78 OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

had  known  for  some  time  that  there  were  pole- 
cats in  the  wood,  but  he  had  been  too  much  oc- 
cupied with  other  friendships  to  cultivate  an 
intimate  acquaintance.  As  he  followed  the 
tracks  of  the  little  skunk  and  noted  how  it  had 
stopped  to  sniff  at  a  small  hole  in  an  old  stump, 
had  scratched  in  the  leaves  beside  a  log,  in 
search  of  hibernating  insects,  and  investigated 
the  hollow  at  the  base  of  an  old  basswood,  he 
became  very  much  interested.  Here,  indeed, 
he  felt  that  he  had  overlooked  a  most  interest- 
ing neighbor,  and  determined  to  know  more 
of  his  haunts  and  habits,  even  though  years  of 
investigation  were  necessary. 

After  having  followed  the  tracks  for  some 
distance  the  Naturalist  noted  evidence  that  the 
Polecat  had  proceeded  somewhat  cautiously, 
and,  sure  enough,  just  ahead  was  the  snug  form 
lately  occupied  by  a  rabbit.  In  a  thick  bunch 
of  grass  Bunny  had  hidden  from  the  sight  of 
passers-by,  and  thought  to  rest  himself  in  quiet. 
The  little  skunk  in  passing  had  scented 
Bunny's  retreat,  and  advancing  quietly  from 
behind  had  caught  him  by  surprise.  The 
skunk  is  slow  and  rather  awkward  in  its  move- 
ments at  times,  but  when  in  the  act  of  seizing 
its  prey  moves  with  surprising  quickness. 


THE   POLECAT  79 


Here  the  snow  was  beaten  down,  showing  the 
struggle  of  the  dying  rabbit  with  a  polecat  at 
its  throat.  Only  a  few  feet  distant,  the  partly 
eaten  carcass  on  the  blood-stained  snow  gave 
evidence  that  the  polecat  had  eaten  his  fill,  and 
made  off  to  his  burrow. 

The  Naturalist  spent  some  time  in  examin- 
ing the  marks  of  the  struggle,  and  reading  the 
story  as  written  in  the  snow.  To-morrow  the 
sunshine  or  more  snow  might  forever  obliter- 
ate the  record,  and  he  wished  to  become  fully 
familiar  with  it.  Here  a  small  animal  had 
made  a  dinner  on  another  larger  and  swifter 
than  himself.  To-night,  no  doubt,  he  would 
come  again  to  make  still  another  meal  from  the 
carcass,  as  it  would  be  much  easier  than  find- 
ing and  killing  another. 

From  that  day  the  Naturalist  sought  for  a 
closer  acquaintance  with  the  black  shadow 
that  constantly  hung  over  the  lives  of  the  rab- 
bits that  lived  in  the  wood.  Poor  Bunny!  A 
harassed  life  is  his.  The  hunter  and  his  dog 
seek  his  life  by  day,  while  the  owl  and  the 
skunk  constantly  threaten  him  by  night.  Eter- 
nal vigilance  is  the  price  of  life  in  the  woods. 
The  little  son  of  the  Naturalist  also  had  de- 
signs on  Bunny's  liberty,  if  not  upon  his  life, 


80 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


and  had  set  an  innocent-looking  trap  beside  his 
path.  The  dead  rabbit  had  a  large  family  of 
relatives  living  in  the  wood,  and  if  he  was 
missed  from  among  them  there  was  no  sign. 


A  polecat  cautiously  peered  around  the  corner. 

They  still  came  out  to  play  at  nightfall,  chas- 
ing each  other  back  and  forth  in  front  of  the 
Naturalist's  window,  and  dining  in  his  garden, 
much  to  the  dismay  of  his  good  wife,  for  the 
shrubbery,  as  well  as  vegetables,  often  suffered 
as  a  result. 

On  closer  acquaintance  the  Naturalist  found 
that  the  polecat  often  came  out  by  day,  though 
his  usual  hours  were  after  sundown.  The  Na- 
turalist also  began  to  go  out  by  night,  when  the 


THE   POLECAT 


81 


moon  was  bright  and  he  could  see  the  move- 
ments of  the  little  animals  in  the  wood. 

One  night  an  incautious  rabbit  ventured  into 
the  trap.      Before  he  had   pushed   back   far 
enough   to   spring  the   door,   a   polecat  cau- 
tiously peered   around   the   corner,    and   see- 
ing that  Bunny  was  inside,  followed  him  in. 
The  terrified  rabbit  backed  into  the  farthest 
corner  and  the  trigger  was  sprung;  rabbit  and 
skunk  were  caught  together.     Bunny's  escape 
was  now  impossible,  and  the  polecat  was  only 
intent  upon  his  dinner.    When  the  boy  came  to 
the  trap  the  following  morning  he  received 
quite  a  surprise;  a  dead  and  partly  eaten  rab- 
bit and  a  pole- 
cat  very    much 
alive.     Back  to 
the     house     he 
went  as  fast  as 
his     little     legs 
would     carry 
him    and    burst 
in   upon   his 
father  with 
great     excite- 
ment.   The  Na- 
turalist,      how- 

If  he  approached  too  near,  one  would  stamp  a  front  foot 

threateningly,  arching  the  back  and  throwing 

the  tail  forward  over  the  body. 


82 OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

ever,  was  not  surprised,  though  much  amused 
at  the  excitement  of  his  small  son.  The  door 
to  the  trap  was  removed,  and  the  polecat  per- 
mitted to  go  about  his  own  business. 

The  Naturalist  now  determined  upon  an 
experiment,  destined  to  extend  over  nearly 
seven  years  of  time.  The  stable  and  henhouse 
were  located  on  the  spot  desired  for  a  wild 
garden,  so  both  were  torn  down.  In  order  to 
satisfy  himself  as  to  the  extent  that  poultry 
enters  into  the  normal  diet  of  the  polecat,  he 
decided  to  make  chicken  the  most  easily  avail- 
able food  for  polecats,  and  to  entice  them 
about  the  buildings.  Accordingly,  the  hens 
were  housed  in  small  coops  only  about  three 
feet  high,  on  roosts  not  more  than  a  foot  or  two 
from  the  ground,  with  doors  wide  open  except 
in  the  most  severe  weather.  He  met  the  pro- 
tests of  the  wife,  who  was  interested  in  chick- 
ens, but  not  in  skunks,  with  the  statement  that 
it  was  worth  a  lot  of  chickens  to  learn  the  facts. 

A  single  observation  is  not  of  much  value  in 
determining  a  matter  of  this  kind.  Nearly 
everybody  can  tell  of  instances  where  skunks 
have  killed  chickens,  but  few  are  prepared  to 
say  whether  all  would  do  so  with  a  favorable 
opportunity.  Dozens  of  individual  skunks 


It  would  peek  at  him  across  a  limb  or  around  the  body  at  a  height  about  on  a 
level  with  his  head. 


Sometimes  one  would  climb  a  tree. 


84 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


were  present  at  different  times  during  the 
seven  years  over  which  the  study  extended. 
When,  as  occasionally  happened,  an  individ- 


During  the  day  they  usually  remained  curled  up  in  the  nest. 

ual  polecat  did  form  the  poultry-killing  habit, 
it  was  immediately  disposed  of,  as  of  no 
further  value  to  the  experiment,  and  to  pre- 
vent other  individual  animals  learning  bad 


THE   POLECAT 


85 


habits  from  contact  with  it.  Some  came  of 
themselves  and  took  up  their  abode  in  the  barn 
or  other  outbuildings,  some  were  caught,  un- 
injured, in  traps  and  released  after  a  short  con- 
finement. From  that  day  to  this  there  has 
probably  not  been  a  time  without  from  one  to 
a  dozen  polecats  about  the  place,  some  of 
which  lived  within  a  few  feet  of  the  little  hen- 
houses. 

The  vile  odor,  the  best-known  character- 
istic of  the  animal,  is  only  used  as  a  means  of 
defense,  and  months  sometimes  passed  without 
the  slightest  evidence  of  it  about  the  build- 
ings where  the  animals  lived.  The  little  crea- 
tures find  it  a  safe  dependence,  usually,  and  are 
not  as  timid  as 
most  wild  an- 
imals. The  Nat- 
uralist could  ap- 
proach near  to 
them  without 
offense,  and 
sometimes  played 
with  them  in  the 
moonlight.  If  he 
approached  too 
near,  one  would 


Mother  Skunk  would  peek  out  cautiously  to  see  if  the  coast 
was  clear. 


86 OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

stamp  a  front  foot  threateningly,  arching  the 
back  and  throwing  the  tail  forward  above  the 
body.  Sometimes  one  would  climb  a  tree  and 
peek  at  him  across  a  limb  or  around  the  body 
at  a  height  about  on  a  level  with  his  head. 

It  was  only  when  the  Naturalist  investigated 
too  closely,  as  when  trying  to  take  photo- 
graphs, or  urging  them  into  some  undesired 
position,  that  they  resented  his  presence  in  a 
most  annoying  way.  At  such  times  copious 
quantities  of  ammonia  and  a  change  of  clothes 
were  necessary  to  make  him  again  presentable 
in  polite  society. 

During  the  day  they  usually  remained 
curled  up  in  the  nest,  coming  out  at  nightfall 
to  search  for  food.  If  there  were  half  grown 
young  ones,  Mother  Skunk  would  peek  out 
cautiously  to  see  if  the  coast  was  clear,  shortly 
to  be  followed  by  her  interesting  brood.  On 
the  slightest  alarm  the  whole  family  would 
dash  for  cover.  During  the  summer  months 
insects  furnished  the  principal  food,  although 
if  the  boys  failed  to  gather  the  eggs,  the  pole- 
cats would  often  dine  from  a  hen's  nest.  (The 
Naturalist  for  a  long  time  kept  this  a  dark 
secret  from  his  wife.)  Next  to  grasshoppers, 
moths,  and  beetles,  mice  seemed  to  furnish  the 


THE  POLECAT 


87 


favorite  article  on  the  menu.  It  was  rare, 
indeed,  that  one  troubled  the  chickens.  In  the 
dead  of  winter,  when  mice  were  hard  to  get, 


The  boys  decided  that  a  young  polecat  would  make  a  fine  pet. 

and  insects  not  to  be  found,  one  would  some- 
times fall  from  grace  and  kill  a  chicken.  The 
next  night  the  culprit  usually  paid  the  death 
penalty,  although  the  Naturalist  found  it  hard 
to  execute  the  sentence.  On  one  occasion,  a 
mother  with  a  large  brood  dependent  upon 
her,  found  life  too  hard,  so  she  too  took  to  the 


_88 OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

henroost  to  supply  her  pressing  needs.  Once 
the  habit  is  formed  it  is  probable  that,  like 
most  bad  habits,  it  is  seldom  broken.  Finding 
an  abundance  of  food  and  slight  resistance  in 
the  henroost,  the  skunk  will  return  again  and 
again.  After  observing  so  many  individual 
animals  during  so  long  a  time,  it  became  ap- 
parent to  the  Naturalist  that  mice  and  insects 
furnish  the  natural  and  preferred  food,  and 
that  the  poultry-killing  habit  is  an  acquired 
one.  As  the  animals  often  live  together  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  it  is  easy  for  one  to  acquire 
the  habit  from  another,  until,  in  a  restricted 
locality,  all,  or  nearly  all,  may  kill  poultry 
whenever  opportunity  presents  itself.  One 
winter  a  large  load  of  corncobs  was  thrown 
into  the  woodshed  to  be  used  as  fuel.  As  there 
was  an  occasional  kernel  of  grain  still  clinging 
to  the  cobs,  rats  soon  found  that  the  big  pile 
would  furnish  both  a  convenient  shelter  and  a 
food  supply.  The  Naturalist  did  not  permit 
a  cat  to  remain  on  the  place  for  fear  of  fright- 
ening some  of  the  numerous  wild  creatures 
which  made  their  homes  with  him,  but  the  rats 
were  so  annoying  that  he  borrowed  a  cat  which 
had  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  ratter.  The 
cat  was  confined  in  the  woodshed  for  several 


THE  POLECAT  89 


days,  but  since  she  did  not  appear  to  make  any 
impression  on  the  rats,  she  was  returned  to  her 
owner.  The  Naturalist  was  considering  some 
measure  to  rid  the  premises  of  rats,  when  a 
polecat  decided  to  move  from  the  barn  to  the 
woodshed.  The  change  of  residence  had  the 
desired  effect,  for  the  rats  moved  out  without 
delay  and  with  less  ceremony.  While  mice, 
apparently,  are  more  attractive  to  the  polecats 
than  rats,  the  rats  seem  to  have  a  deadly  fear 
of  them,  and  the  presence  of  a  polecat  in  the 
building  is  usually  sufficient  to  clear  it  quickly 
of  the  rodents.  The  polecats  would  often 
enter  the  open  burrows  of  the  pocket  gopher 
also,  and  although  the  Naturalist  was  unable 
to  determine  with  certainty  what  took  place 
in  the  darkness  below,  the  indications  were 
that  the  visit  proved  disastrous  to  the  gopher. 
One  day  a  neighbor's  dog,  which  chanced 
to  be  passing,  discovered  Mrs.  Polecat  as  she 
was  crossing  the  yard.  Rover  gave  chase,  and, 
just  as  he  opened  his  mouth  to  seize  his  prey, 
she  discharged  her  artillery  full  in  his  face. 
A  very  sick  dog  immediately  lost  interest  in 
the  hunt,  and  for  some  days  had  a  wholesome 
respect  for  polecats.  His  eyes  burned  like  fire, 
and  his  mouth  tasted  worse.  The  intolerable 


90 OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

odor  clung  to  him  and  made  him  sicker  than 
anything  in  his  experience.  Doggie  had  re- 
ceived the  contents  of  the  scent  glands  in  the 
most  effective  places — the  mouth  and  eyes. 
He  rolled  about  in  agony,  he  coughed  and 
whined;  he  bit  off  mouthfuls  of  grass  and 
filled  his  mouth  with  loose  earth  to  no  purpose, 
for  he  could  not  rid  himself  of  the  awful  sen- 
sations that  clung  to  him.  Finally  he  slunk  off 
home  with  a  most  shamed  appearance,  and 
crawled  under  his  mistress's  bed.  Suddenly 
the  house  was  filled  with  a  most  penetrating 
scent.  Members  of  the  family  sniffed  the  air 
and  speculated  on  the  source  of  the  well- 
known  smell.  After  a  time  Rover  crawled  out 
and,  sheepishly  wagging  his  tail,  approached 
his  mistress.  When  he  attempted  to  put  his 
paws  in  her  lap  she  screamed  and,  much  to  his 
surprise,  gave  him  a  kick.  Alas,  poor  dog! 
This  was  adding  insult  to  injury,  and  Rover 
was  at  a  loss  to  understand  why  he  should 
have  received  punishment  instead  of  sympathy. 
He  went  and  hid  under  the  corncrib,  where  he 
remained  until  the  following  day.  When 
hunger  finally  forced  him  out  he  received 
scant  welcome  from  his  best  friends.  For  days 
he  suffered  the  isolation  of  an  outcast,  and  it 


THE  POLECAT  91 


was  only  after  the  odor  had  finally  disap- 
peared from  his  presence  that  he  was  again 
received  as  a  member  of  the  family.  Thus 
was  another  family  added  to  those  who,  hav- 
ing had  an  intimate  introduction  to  her  means 
of  defense,  have  acquired  a  life-long  prejudice 
against  the  skunk. 

One  summer  Mother  Polecat  brought  forth 
her  young  in  a  roll  of  tin  in  the  shed.  She 
made  little  preparation  in  the  way  of  a  nest- 
simply  a  bed  of  chaff  with  some  odds  and  ends 
of  cotton  material  that  chanced  to  be  near. 
Mice  and  insects  were  plentiful,  and  ungath- 
ered  eggs  occasionally  offered  a  special  treat 
for  the  polecat  family.  There  was  no  annoy- 
ance by  dogs  or  other  unfriendly  animals,  so 
that  the  summer  was  one  grand  holiday  for 
Mother  Polecat  and  her  brood,  until  it  became 
necessary  for  the  Naturalist  to  move  the  roll 
of  tin  in  which  they  lived.  He  talked  the 
matter  over  with  the  boys,  and  it  was  decided 
to  pose  the  youngsters  for  a  picture  and  then 
turn  the  family  out  to  hunt  for  a  new  home. 
The  boys  decided  that  a  young  polecat  would 
make  a  fine  pet,  and  the  little  creatures  were 
cunning  indeed.  However,  the  Naturalist 
persuaded  them  not  to  break  family  ties,  and 


92 


OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


so  Mother  Polecat  scampered  into  a  hollow 
basswood  tree  in  the  front  yard,  where  she  was 
followed  by  her  four  babies.  After  nightfall 
she  came  out  to  search  for  more  satisfactory 
quarters.  The  Naturalist  and  his  boys  were 
much  interested  to  learn  where  she  would  take 
up  housekeeping  next. 


The  Naturalist  persuaded  them  not  to  break  family  ties. 


THE  MAGIC  CITY 


THE  MAGIC  CITY 

THE  Naturalist  had  a  visitor,  a  winsome 
lassie  from  the  city.  She  was  fasci- 
nated with  all  the  wonderful  world  which  he 
showed  her,  and  together  they  had  wandered 
through  the  little  wood  and  over  the  meadows 
near  by.  Together  they  had  visited  the 
oriole's  nest  and  listened  to  the  merry  song  of 
the  brown  thrasher  who  had  her  nest  in  the 
lilac  bushes.  Hand  in  hand  they  had  walked 
through  the  wild  garden,  while  the  Naturalist 
pointed  out  the  trilliums  which  he  had  gath- 
ered near  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  the 
wild  currant  from  Minnesota,  the  prickly  pear 
from  the  badlands  of  Dakota,  and  the  many 
other  plants  which  he  had  found  on  his 
journeys  to  the  outside  world  and  transplanted 
safely  to  Tamakoche. 

When  at  last  they  had  tired  of  visiting  with 
the  wild  creatures  and  returned  to  the  easy 
chair  in  the  study,  she  begged  for  a  story — a 
really  truly  true  story. 

95 


96 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


"Tell  me  about  the  most  interesting  place  in 
the  whole  wide  world,"  she  said. 

The  Naturalist  protested  that  he  had  seen 


The  Magic  City  is  the  hive,  and  the  inhabitants  are  the  bees. 

very  little  of  the  big  outside  world,  and  that 
he  really  did  not  know  what  was  the  most  in- 
teresting place. 

"Then  tell  me  about  the  most  interesting 
place  that  you  ever  saw,"  she  begged. 

"I  will  tell  you  about  the  most  interesting 
place  that  I  know  of,"  he  agreed,  "and  I  will 
take  you  to  see  it  for  yourself,  and  you  can 
then  tell  me  whether  it  is  so." 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 


97 


So  it  came  about  that  the  Naturalist  told  the 
girl  about  the  Magic  City,  and  together  they 
went  to  see  the  inhabitants  and  the  wonderful 
way  in  which  they  lived. 

It  was  June  when  the  little  girl  visited  the 


The  Naturalist  then  lifted  out  a  frame  which  was  filled  with  comb  and  covered 
with  bees. 

Naturalist,  and  the  wood  and  the  fields  were 
as  green  as  green.  The  birds  were  singing 
gaily  in  the  trees  above  the  study,  and  crick- 
ets and  frogs  sang  their  evening  chorus  after 
the  birds  had  finished  their  daily  concert. 
Finding  it  too  much  like  the  city  in  the  study, 
the  little  girl  took  the  Naturalist  by  the  hand 
and  led  him  outside  under  the  big  walnut  and 
sat  down  on  the  grass. 


98 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


The  drones  are  big  blundering  fellows  who 
never  work. 


"It  is  nicer  out  here,  and,  besides,  the  story 
will  seem  more  real  while  I  lie  and  look  up  at 
r~  the  birds  among  the 

branches    over- 

y|^  head,"  she  said. 

This  is  the  story 
that  he  told  the  lit- 
tle girl  under  the 
big  tree. 

"For  centuries 
the  wise  men  of  the 
earth  have  known 
of  the  magic  city. 
In  every  generation  men  have  visited  it  and 
endeavored  to  learn  all  the  secrets  of  the  little 
people  that  live  there.  Little  by  little  they 
have  learned  some  of  the  secrets,  and  there 
are  still  many  that  they  guard  very  carefully 
and  which  man  has  never  yet  found  out. 
These  little  people  are  wonderful  chemists, 
for  they  gather  a  commonplace  product  from 
the  fields  and  so  change  its  character  that  it 
will  keep  for  many  years  without  spoiling. 
They  are  wonderful  builders,  and  utilize  a 
product  which  they  make  for  themselves  and 
which  man  has  never  learned  to  imitate,  in 
their  building.  They  have  developed  the  most 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 


99 


wonderful  system  of  government,  for  every 
individual  living  in  that  city  has  an  equal  op- 
portunity, and  enjoys  equal  privileges  and  an 
equal  share  of  the  wealth  of  the  community. 


Most  interesting  of  all  they  found  the  queen,  the  mother  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  bee  city. 


100 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


They  are  very  patriotic,  and  any  member  of 
the  community  will  lay  down  her  life,  if  neces- 
sary, without  hesitation  to  drive  away  invaders 
who  would  rob  them  of  their  treasure. 


When  the  bees  would  rear  another  queen,  they  provide  a  very  large  cell,  which 
looks  much  like  a  small  peanut. 

"All  the  babies  are  reared  in  cradles  exactly 
alike,  and  the  same  nurses  care  for  one  after 
another,  giving  them  the  same  attention,  ex- 
cept when  they  wish  to  rear  a  new  queen  to  re- 
place the  one  who  is  failing  from  old  age,  or 
to  found  a  new  city.  When  it  comes  time  to 
divide  the  population  and  to  found  a  new  city, 
the  old  queen  and  the  older  inhabitants  go 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 


101 


forth  to  begin  life  anew,  leaving  the  old  estab- 
lished home  for  the  young.  But,  my  dear,  you 
must  remember  that  it  is  hardly  safe  to  speak 
of  other  creatures  as  though  they  had  similar 


Suddenly  there  was  a  great  bluster  among  the  bees,  and  with  a  glad,  new  note 
they  tumbled  hastily  out. 

thoughts  and  ways  to  men,  for  we  know  not 
by  what  senses  they  find  their  way,  or  con- 
duct their  affairs.  It  is  better  for  me  to  show 
you  the  city  itself  and  to  explain  everything 
that  we  see,  than  to  tell  you  about  it  in  a  way 
that  will  give  a  wrong  impression.  The  Magic 
City  is  the  hive,  and  the  inhabitants  are  the 
bees.  Although  they  formerly  made  their 


102 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


homes  in  hollow  trees  and  in  cavities  in  the 
rocks,  man  has  learned  to  turn  their  labor  to 
his  own  advantage,  and  provides  them  with 
hives  in  which  to  live." 

The  Naturalist  then  provided  his  visitor 
with  a  veil  and  some  gloves,  to  guard  her 
against  possible  attack  by  the  sentinels  on 
guard  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  together 
they  went  to  see  whether  they  could  learn  some 
new  secret  of  the  bee  people. 


On  the  porch  of  his  study  the  Naturalist  kept  a  small  observation  hive  with 
glass  sides  and  wooden  shutters. 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 


103 


When  they  reached  the  apiary  he  called  her 
attention  to  the  fact  that  there  was  not  one 
magic  city  but  many  of  them,  and  in  each  lived 
many   thousands   of   busy   inhabitants.     The 
Naturalist  carried   a   smoker,   an  implement 
used  by  every  up-to-date  beekeeper.    In  it  he 
set  fire  to  some  excelsior  shavings  and  some 
burlap,  and  by  pressing  the  bellows,  sent  forth 
a  dense  smoke.    On  approaching  the  hive  they 
stopped  for  a  time  to  see  how  busily  the  bees 
were  engaged  in  carrying  in  their  loads  of 
pollen  in  bright  yellow  balls.    Others  going  in 
carried       nothing 
that    the    visitors 
could      see,      but 
which,  in  fact,  had 
their    honey    sacs 
full      of      nectar. 
The  Naturalist  ex- 
plained   that    the 
pollen  was  to  serve 
as    bread    for   the 
baby  bees,  and  that 
they  lived  all  the 
time  on  bread  and 
honey.       He     ex- 
plained   also    that 

i 

From  roadside  weeds  they  gathered  a  harvest  of  gold. 


104  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

the  nectar  which  they  carried  was  gathered 
from  the  flowers,  and  that  it  seemed  to  be 
nothing  much  more  than  a  little  sweetened 
water  when  they  found  it,  but  that  after  it  was 
brought  to  the  hives  they  made  wonderful 
changes  by  which  it  was  converted  into  honey. 

The  cover  was  then  lifted  off  the  hive  and  a 
puff  of  smoke  blown  across  the  top  of  the  ex- 
posed frames.  The  little  girl  gave  an  ex- 
clamation of  surprise  at  this,  and  it  was  ex- 
plained to  her  that  the  object  of  the  smoke  was 
to  disarm  the  guards  and  save  themselves  from 
annoyance  by  resentful  bees.  He  explained 
how  carefully  the  bees  guard  their  treasure, 
and  that  if  they  were  not  constantly  on  the 
watch,  all  the  product  of  their  hard  labor 
would  be  lost.  Even  other  bees  will  rob  their 
weaker  neighbors.  The  labor  of  the  hive  is  so 
divided  that  some  bees  remain  on  guard  at 
every  opening,  to  make  sure  that  each  incom- 
ing bee  belongs  there  and  is  bringing  in  some- 
thing to  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  community, 
instead  of  a  stranger  intent  on  seeking  spoils. 

When  the  smoke  was  blown  across  the  hive 
it  disturbed  them  greatly.  There  was  a  great 
rush  for  the  open  cells,  and  every  bee  began  to 
take  as  big  a  load  of  honey  as  she  could  carry. 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 105 

Apparently,  they  thought  that  the  city  was  in 
danger,  and  they  seemed  intent  on  saving  as 
much  as  possible  of  their  hard-earned  hoard. 
The  Naturalist  then  explained  that  beekeepers 
disturbed  their  bees  as  little  as  possible  to 
avoid  interrupting  their  work  of  storing  up 
honey.  By  keeping  gentle  strains  of  Italian 
bees  which  have  become  used  to  being 
handled,  they  are  able  to  carry  on  the  neces- 
sary work  with  very  little  disturbance. 

The  Naturalist  then  lifted  out  a  frame 
which  was  filled  with  comb  and  covered  with 
bees.  He  called  his  visitor's  attention  to  the 
way  in  which  the  cells  were  built,  with  the 
bottom  of  each  one  opposite  one  third  of  each 
of  three  others  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
comb.  Some  of  the  cells  along  the  top  of  the 
comb  were  filled  with  honey,  while  others  con- 
tained eggs  and  newly  hatched  bees.  The  eggs 
were  carefully  pointed  out,  and  then  the  little 
larvae  which  appear  after  three  days  when  the 
egg  hatches.  The  fat,  wormlike  little  creature 
has  no  resemblance  to  the  mature  bee,  but 
grows  very  fast  for  six  days,  during  which  it 
is  frequently  fed  by  the  nurses.  When  the 
larva  has  been  fed  for  six  days,  it  then  straight- 
ens out  lengthwise  in  the  cell  and  it  is  sealed 


106  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

over.  It  then  lives  very  quietly,  taking  no 
food,  but  there  in  the  dark  cell  where  no  eyes 
can  see,  a  wonderful  change  is  taking  place, 
so  that  at  the  end  of  twelve  days  the  cap  is 
removed  from  the  cell  and  the  mature  bee 
comes  forth. 

Soon  after  her  emergence  the  young  bee 
begins  to  share  the  duties  of  the  hive,  nursing 
the  babies,  cleaning  out  the  waste,  and  various 
other  duties.  Several  days  pass  before  she  goes 
to  the  field  to  join  the  busy  throng  which  are 
intent  in  laying  up  just  as  big  a  store  of  honey 
as  possible.  No  matter  how  much  honey  there 
may  be  already  there,  if  there  is  honey  in  the 
field  and  room  in  the  hive,  they  will  continue 
to  pile  it  up  against  the  day  of  scarcity. 

On  one  comb  they  found  a  number  of  sealed 
cells  that  were  larger  than  the  others,  and 
whose  tops  were  arched  high  like  rifle  bullets. 
These  were  occupied  by  drones,  or  male  bees. 
When  mature  they  are  big,  blundering  fellows 
who  never  work  and  who  even  insist  on  being 
fed  by  their  industrious  sisters.  In  their 
larval  state  they  must  be  fed  for  a  somewhat 
longer  period,  and  they  occupy  their  cells 
longer.  Instead  of  reaching  maturity  in  three 
weeks,  like  their  sisters,  they  require  twenty- 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 107 

five  days  from  the  time  the  egg  is  laid.  While 
the  drone  lives  a  carefree  life  during  the  warm 
summer  days  when  his  busy  sisters  are  laying 
up  their  winter  store,  they  are  not  dealt  with 
lightly  when  the  chill  days  of  autumn  come, 
and  the  workers  are  no  longer  busy  bringing 
honey  from  the  field.  When  at  last  the  time 
comes  when  they  take  delight  in  remaining 
inside  and  enjoying  the  warmth  of  the  hive, 
they  are  driven  out  heartlessly  by  the  sisters 
who  have  cared  for  them  so  indulgently  dur- 
ing the  warm  days  of  summer.  Poor  fellows! 
they  have  toiled  not  in  the  harvest,  and  they 
are  now  driven  out  to  perish  of  cold  and 
hunger. 

Most  interesting  of  all  they  found  the  queen, 
the  mother  of  the  whole  population  of  the 
bee  city.  When  they  removed  the  comb  on 
which  she  was  lying,  she  paid  little  attention, 
but  kept  on  looking  into  the  cells  to  find  those 
which  were  empty  and  then  turning  and  back- 
ing in  to  leave  an  egg  in  each.  Thus  she 
spends  her  days,  moving  from  cell  to  cell  and 
laying  a  thousand  or  more  eggs  every  day  dur- 
ing the  height  of  the  honey-gathering  season. 

At  the  time  of  the  little  girl's  visit  the  col- 
ony was  preparing  to  swarm,  and,  accordingly, 


108  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

there  were  some  special  cells  in  which  queens 
are  reared.  When  the  bees  would  rear  an- 
other queen,  they  provide  a  very  large  cell, 
which  looks  much  like  a  small  peanut,  and 
feed  the  baby  larva  freely  with  a  very  rich 
food,  called  royal  jelly.  With  the  big  cell  and 
the  rich  food  the  royal  baby  grows  very  rap- 
idly, and  reaches  maturity  much  sooner  than 
either  the  worker  bees  or  the  drones.  Only 
sixteen  days  from  the  time  the  egg  is  laid  are 
necessary  for  her  complete  development. 

While  they  were  standing  there  beside  the 
open  hive,  they  heard  a  zeep,  zeep,  and  a 
smothered  answer,  which  was  the  piping  of 
the  queens.  One  sound  was  made  by  the 
mature  queen  on  the  combs,  and  the  other  by 
the  young  one  which  was  just  ready  to  emerge 
from  the  cell,  but  which  was  prevented  from 
doing  so  by  the  workers  until  the  swarm  was 
ready  to  leave  the  hive.  The  girl  learned  that 
when  this  sound  is  heard  the  beekeeper  knows 
that  the  bees  are  ready  to  swarm  and  will  come 
out  before  very  long. 

A  few  hours  later  they  chanced  to  be  in  the 
apiary  when  the  swarm  issued.  Suddenly 
there  was  a  great  bluster  among  the  bees,  and 
with  a  glad,  new  note  they  tumbled  hastily  out, 


THE   MAGIC  CITY 109 

frantically  falling  over  each  other  in  their 
great  haste.  Hundreds  of  them  came,  then 
hundreds  more,  until  the  air  was  full  of  bees, 
and  so  loud  was  their  song  when  all  joined 
together  that  they  fairly  seemed  to  roar.  For 
a  time  they  danced  about  in  the  warm  sun- 
shine, flying  in  circles,  then  they  began  to 
alight  on  a  branch  of  a  nearby  apple  tree. 
When  the  swarm  had  clustered  quietly,  the 
Naturalist  brought  a  hive  and  placed  it  be- 
neath them  and  shook  them  carefully  down  in 
front  of  the  entrance.  A  few  going  in  set  up 
a  joyful  humming,  and  soon  they  were  all 
moving  rapidly  in  the  direction  of  the  call  and 
repeating  the  same  joyful  sound.  Thousands 
of  them  were  soon  within  the  hive,  but  many 
clustered  on  the  outside  and  some  were  flying 
about  in  the  air.  It  was  several  hours  before 
they  were  settled  down  to  work  again  and  their 
holiday  was  over. 

H  On  the  porch  of  his  study  the  Naturalist 
kept  a  small  observation  hive  with  glass  sides 
and  wooden  shutters.  At  any  time  he  could 
remove  the  shutter  and  watch  the  bees  through 
the  glass  without  disturbing  them  in  the  least. 
They  went  back  and  forth  to  the  fields  with- 
out taking  any  apparent  notice  of  his  presence. 


110  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

Here  he  took  his  visitor  to  show  her  how  the 
incoming  bees  unloaded  their  pollen  baskets, 
and  how  the  nurses  fed  the  baby  bees  that 
opened  their  mouths  like  hungry  baby  birds. 
They  watched  the  queen  also  as  she  went  about 
her  egg-laying,  and  the  busy  workers  sealing 
up  the  cells  of  ripened  honey.  Truly,  from 
the  roadside  weeds  they  gathered  a  harvest  of 
gold. 


FOXY 


FOXY 

WHEN  the  Naturalist  and  his  family 
moved  to  their  home  in  the  little 
wood,  there  were  few  wild  creatures  to  be  seen, 
for  the  previous  occupant  had  been  fond  of  a 
gun.  Such  as  still  lived  about  were  very  shy 
and  seldom  went  abroad  when  human  beings 
were  in  sight.  There  was  no  gun  in  the  family 
of  the  Naturalist,  neither  was  there  a  cat  nor 
a  dog,  for  the  newcomers  very  much  desired 
to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  little  animals 
which  lived  thereabout.  They  planted  mul- 
berries, cherries,  and  various  other  fruits  for 
the  birds,  put  up  nest  boxes,  and  provided  a 
regular  water  supply.  Strangers  were  no 
longer  permitted  to  shoot  and  neighbors'  dogs 
were  not  encouraged  to  visit  the  premises. 
The  little  creatures  soon  noted  the  change,  and 
gradually  learned  that  the  little  wood  and  the 
Naturalist's  home  grounds  were  a  haven  of 
refuge,  and  that  special  attractions  were  of- 
fered to  make  them  at  home  there.  They  soon 
lost  fear. and  would  play  about  on  the  lawn,  or 

113 


114  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

scamper  through  the  trees,  as  the  case  might 
be. 

When  the  squirrels  began  to  come  to  the 
dooryard  for  nuts  that  grew  on  the  big  walnut, 


A.t  the  least  alarm  they  would  flatten  out  on  a  limb  and  were  not  easily  seen 
from  below. 

and  rabbits  played  on  the  lawn,  while  the  birds 
sang  gaily  overhead,  the  Naturalist  decided 
to  call  the  place  "Tamakoche,"  which,  in  the 
language  of  the  Dakota  Sioux  Indians,  means, 
"His  own  country,"  or  "His  own  land." 

The  fox  squirrel  of  the  Mississippi  valley  is 
among  the  largest  of  American  squirrels,  and 
for  a  time  was  threatened  with  extermination. 
It  is  becoming  established  in  cities  and  towns 
and  in  some  country  districts,  where  it  is  pro- 
tected, so  that  it  has  been  increasing  in  num- 
bers again  the  last  few  years.  There  were 
but  few  wild  ones  left  in  the  little  wood,  and 
they  were  not  often  seen  for  several  years.  At 


FOXY 


115 


the  least  alarm  they  would  flatten  out  on  a  limb 
and  were  not  easily  seen  from  below.  But 
since  they  were  no  longer  molested,  the  grow- 


A  nest  of  dry  leaves  would  be  built  high  in  a  treetop. 


ing  families  soon  repopulated  the  whole  neigh- 
borhood, and  squirrels  became  so  common  that 
neighbors  complained  of  their  depredations  in 
carrying  away  corn  from  the  cribs  in  winter  or 
gathering  the  ears  from  the  fields  in  autumn. 

The  Naturalist  and  his  boys  often  watched 
the  squirrels  gathering  the  nuts  from  the  big 
walnut  tree  which  overhung  the  "Bughouse," 


116  OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

as  the  two-room  laboratory  and  study  was 
called.  They  would  begin  their  harvest  early 
in  the  fall,  even  before  frost  had  loosened  the 
nuts.  Climbing  the  tree,  one  would  find  it  an 
easy  matter  to  reach  the  farthermost  tip  of  a 
branch,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  get  the  desired 
nut.  He  would  grasp  the  nut  firmly  in  the 
mouth  and  climb  back  to  a  flat  place  near  the 
body  of  the  tree.  Then  calmly  sitting  on  his 
haunches,  he  would  deliberately  remove  the 
husk,  scattering  the  bits  about  the  base  of  the 
tree.  When  the  nut  was  free  from  its  outer 
covering,  he  would  run  lightly  down  the  tree 
and  scamper  away  two  or  three  rods,  and 
quickly  bury  it  in  the  ground.  Again  and 
again  he  would  repeat  the  process,  often 
more  than  a  dozen  times  in  half  an  hour. 
With  half  a  dozen  squirrels  at  work,  the  Natu- 
ralist's boys  had  to  be  very  watchful  or  they 
would  find  no  nuts  left  when  they  came  to 
gather  their  share.  It  is  this  nut-planting  pro- 
pensity of  the  fox  squirrel  that  has  had  much 
to  do  with  the  planting  of  the  original  hard 
wood  forests  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  A 
squirrel  will  plant  many  more  nuts  in  a  favor- 
able season  than  he  can  ever  use  for  his  own 
food.  The  frost  of  winter  will  crack  the  hard 


The  newborn  young  are  very  small  and  naked  and  blind. 


They  soon  don  their  furs. 


118  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

shell,  and  the  nut  is  just  the  proper  distance 
below  the  surface  to  enable  the  seedling  to 
establish  itself  most  favorably.  Some  species 
lay  up  their  winter  supply  in  a  hollow  tree  or 
other  favorable  situation,  where  the  whole 
hoard  is  kept  together,  but  a  fox  squirrel  will 
gather  nuts  from  many  trees,  and  plant  them 
in  every  direction  around  the  tree  where  they 
grew. 

While  it  was  fun  to  see  the  little  animals 
gathering  the  nuts  and  putting  them  away  for 
winter,  it  was  vastly  more  interesting  to  see 
them  dig  them  out  in  the  dead  of  winter  when 
the  snow  lay  deep  upon  the  ground.  They 
would  often  climb  the  tree  and  start  from  a 
similar  position  to  the  one  they  had  occupied 
when  about  to  bury  the  nut  the  previous 
autumn.  Without  hesitation  one  would  run 
down  the  tree  and  directly  to  a  spot  where  a 
nut  was  buried.  Then  the  snow  would  be 
made  to  fly  in  every  direction,  although  the 
squirrel  would  pause  a  moment  now  and  then 
to  look  about  to  guard  against  a  surprise. 
Very  seldom  did  one  miss  finding  the  nut  in 
the  first  place  where  he  began  to  dig.  The 
Naturalist  often  wondered  whether  by  means 
of  a  keen  scent  he  was  able  to  find  where  the 


FOXY 119 

nut  was  buried,  or  whether  there  was  a  sort 
of  subconscious  memory  that  led  him  back 
to  the  identical  spot  where  he  had  laid  away 
his  treasure  several  months  before.  When  he 
had  found  the  nut,  he  would  again  climb  the 
tree  or  some  other  convenient  object,  and  with 
his  sharp  teeth  gnaw  open  the  hard  shell  and 
make  a  dinner  from  the  contents.  Sometimes 
during  severe  and  stormy  weather  the  squirrels 
would  not  be  seen  about  for  several  days,  but 
the  first  bright  day  they  would  be  playing 
about  among  the  trees  and  seeking  for  food. 

The  old  squirrels  occupy  a  very  similar  nest 
in  winter  to  the  ones  they  use  in  summer.    If  a 
convenient  hollow  is  at  hand  in  some  tree  at 
a  safe  height  from  the  ground — which  is  sel- 
dom less  than  fifteen   ^     J|^^^^°r  twenty 
feet — they        will 
carry    in    strips 
of      bark      and     j 
make    a    very 
comfortable 
bed.         The 
squirrels       f  r  e- 
quently  appropri- 
ated the  boxes  which 
the     Naturalist     had 

It  just  filled  the  hollow  of  Melvin's  hand. 


120 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


built  for  screech  owls  and  flickers,  for  winter 
nests,  though  they  usually  retired  to  the  wood 
to  rear  their  families.  If  there  were  no  satis- 


i 

; 


They  found  one  with  its  eyes  open  and  all  its  clothes  on. 

factory  cavity,  a  nest  of  dry  leaves  would  be 
built  high  in  a  treetop.  These  nests  were  very 
cleverly  formed,  with  the  leaves  so  arranged 
as  to  give  a  shingled  effect,  and  shed  the  water 
very  effectively.  The  spring  nests  in  which 
the  young  were  brought  forth  were  built  more 


FOXY 


121 


substantially  than  were  those  which  served  for 
mere  shelter.  For  the  nursery  nest  a  founda- 
tion of  coarse  twigs  was  sometimes  laid,  which 
gave  it  somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  crow's 
nest  at  a  little  distance.  Inside  this  outer  layer 
of  sticks  were  several  layers  of  coarse  leaves, 
and  all  was  lined  with  strips  of  bark,  which 
were  finely  cut.  The  top  of  the  nest  was 
shingled  over  with  leaves  to  shed  the  rain,  as 
already  described,  and  at  one  side  there  was  a 
small  opening  just  large  enough  to  serve  as  an 
entrance  for  Mother  Squirrel. 

In  Iowa  the  young  are  usually  born  in  late 
March  or  April. 
Sometimes  there  will 
be  only  one,  while 
there  may  be  as  many 
as  five,  but  the  Natu- 
ralist found  more 
nests  with  two  young 
than  with  all  other 
numbers  put  together. 
The  newborn  young 
are  very  small  and 
naked  and  blind,  look- 
ing much  like  baby 
rats  or  mice.  They 

HHI 

Foxy's  open-air  dining  table. 


122  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

grow  rapidly,  however,  and  soon  begin  to  don 
their  furs,  which  gives  them  more  resem- 
blance to  their  parents. 

When  the  Naturalist  or  the  boys  would 
find  a  nest,  the  mother  would  usually  move 
her  young  before  the  next  visit.  She  would 
depart  in  haste  when  they  approached,  and  re- 
main at  a  safe  distance  during  their  stay. 

One  spring  the  boys  decided  that  they  must 
have  a  pet  squirrel.  They  could  not  be  quite 
content  with  the  wild  ones  that  came  about 
the  house  and  gathered  their  nuts,  but  which 
would  never  permit  an  intimate  acquaintance. 
It  was  seldom  that  any  wild  creature  was  kept 
long  in  captivity.  As  soon  as  any  unfortunate 
which  chanced  to  need  assistance  was  able  to 
care  for  itself,  it  was  released,  and  the  few 
young  that  the  boys  did  care  for  in  order  to  get 
them  entirely  tame,  were  permitted  to  have 
their  freedom  from  the  start. 

When  it  was  decided  that  they  would  have 
a  pet  they  began  scouring  the  woods  for  nests. 
They  soon  found  one,  but  the  young  were  so 
small  that  one  of  them  just  filled  the  hollow  of 
Melvin's  hand,  and  it  did  not  even  have  its 
eyes  open  or  have  a  trace  of  hair.  Of  course 
they  knew  it  would  not  be  possible  to  rear  one 


FOXY 


123 


so  young,  and  Mother  Squirrel  took  good  care 
to  move  to  a  new  neighborhood  after  their 
visit.  By  this  time,  however,  squirrels  were 
common  in  the  neighborhood,  and  it  was  not 
long  until  they  found  one  with  its  eyes  open 


Foxy  and  Freddie  were  very  good  friends. 


124  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

and  all  its  clothes  on.  They  soon  found  that 
they  had  undertaken  quite  a  task,  for  the  little 
fellow  must  be  fed  very  often.  For  a  time  they 
gave  it  nothing  but  fresh  milk,  but  it  was  not 
long  until  it  would  eat  bread  and  butter,  or  a 
bit  of  honey  in  the  comb,  or  a  nutmeat,  if  the 
boys  would  crack  the  shell. 

In  the  shed  they  made  a  warm  nest  for 
"Foxy,"  for  that  was  his  name.  For  a  while 
he  slept  much  of  the  time,  but  as  he  grew  older 
he  would  spend  more  time  in  running  about 
the  house.  If  he  chanced  to  find  a  piece  of 
cake  to  his  liking,  he  would  seize  it  and 
scamper  upon  a  chair  or  a  box  and  help  him- 
self. In  the  open  air  a  fence  post  furnished 
a  very  satisfactory  dining  table.  Sometimes 
he  would  sit  on  Freddie's  shoulder  and  nibble 
away  at  his  stolen  dainty,  for  Freddie  and 
Foxy  were  very  good  friends.  After  a  time  he 
tired  of  a  nest  which  the  boys  had  made  for 
him  and  built  one  after  his  own  plans,  in  a 
plum  tree  near  the  kitchen  door.  He  now 
lived  in  the  trees  like  the  other  squirrels,  but 
he  had  not  forgotten  that  there  were  good 
things  to  eat  in  the  house.  It  often  happened 
that  when  some  one  opened  the  door  to  come 
in,  Foxy  would  dodge  in  also.  When  he 


FOXY 


125 


slipped  in  he  always  made  investigation  to  see 
whether  the  dining  table  was  set,  and  if  it  was, 
to  help  himself  to  what  he  wanted.  The 
butter  tempted  him  especially,  and  Foxy  and 
Mrs.  Naturalist  soon  developed  unpleasant 
differences  on  this  account.  The  boys  and 
their  father  always  enjoyed  Foxy's  visits,  but 
not  so  the  mistress  of  the  house.  He  persisted 
so  strongly  in  getting  on  the  table  that  he  was 
finally  denied  admittance  to  the  extent  that 
she  was  able  to  enforce  her  ruling,  although 
she  sometimes  relented  after  the  table  had  been 
cleared. 


He  would  scamper  upon  a  box  and  help  himself. 


126  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

Foxy  gradually  extended  his  acquaintance 
to  other  homes  near  by,  and  since  he  made 
himself  as  free  wherever  he  went,  he  probably 
got  into  serious  difficulty  during  some  of  his 
visits.  At  any  rate,  he  spent  less  and  less  time 
at  home  among  the  Naturalist's  trees,  and 
finally  disappeared  altogether. 


THE  HATCHING 
OF  THE  TURTLES 


THE  HATCHING  OF  THE  TURTLES 

HORSESHOE  BEND  was  a  long,  shal- 
low pond  about  a  half  mile  from  the 
Naturalist's  home.  Here  the  boys  and  girls 
of  the  neighborhood  had  loved  to  gather  for 
skating  parties  on  bright  winter  days  when  he 
was  a  boy.  Here  also,  in  summer,  he  found 
many  interesting  creatures  who  belonged  to 
quite  a  different  world  from  the  little  wood. 
Beautiful  dragon  flies  who  spent  their  days 
flying  about  in  the  bright  sunlight,  laid  their 
eggs  on  the  stems  of  water  plants,  just  below 
the  surface,  and  the  young,  when  hatched, 
were  true  water  babies.  Frogs  sang  a  regular 
chorus  every  summer  night  and  whirligig 
beetles  spun  round  and  round  in  dizzy  circles, 
while  water  striders  skated  on  the  surface  of 
the  pond  in  summer,  as  the  boys  and  girls  had 
done  in  the  winter.  These  and  other  creatures 
of  the  water  world  told  their  stories  to  the 
Naturalist  in  the  same  language  as  the  crea- 
tures of  the  little  wood,  but  their  stories  must 
wait  until  a  later  time  to  be  told.  , 

129 


130 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


Among  the  many  inhabitants  of  the  pond 
were  two  old  turtles.  The  Naturalist  knew 
they  must  be  very  old,  since  they  were  so 
much  larger  than  any  other  turtles  living 


Every  year,  in  the  month  of  June,  Mother  Snapping  Turtle  left  the  water  and 
took  a  little  journey. 

there,  or  in  the  Nishnabotna  River  near  by. 
Turtles  grow  slowly  and  live  longer  lives  than 
any  others  of  the  backdoor  neighbors.  They 
lived  in  the  pond  for  many  years — how  long 
nobody  knew.  When  the  snow  melted  and  the 
ice  went  out  in  spring,  the  Naturalist  would 
look  for  the  old  turtles,  and,  sure  enough,  they 
would  be  there.  One  spring  when  the  Natu- 
ralist was  still  a  boy,  he  had  taken  one  of  the 
turtles  home  with  him  and  secured  him  with  a 


THE    HATCHING  OF   THE  TURTLES       131 

chain.  A  hole  in  the  edge  of  his  shell  fur- 
nished a  secure  place  to  fasten  the  snap,  and 
for  many  a  day  the  old  turtle  dreamed  of  his 
mate  in  the  little  pond.  Finally,  tiring  of  his 
pet,  the  Naturalist  released  the  turtle  on  the 
hill,  instead  of  returning  him  to  his  home  in 
the  pond.  The  pond  was  half  a  mile  away,  and 
to  get  there  it  was  necessary  to  pass  several 
woven  wire  fences,  and  to  cross  the  river.  The 
fences  presented  many  difficulties,  for  they 
were  built  to  turn  small  pigs  which  were  not  as 
large  as  the  old  turtle.  Just  how  many  hours 
of  patient  looking  to  find  a  way  through  were 
necessary  would  be  hard  to  tell.  The  young 
Naturalist  supposed  that  one  pond  would  be  as 
good  as  another  for  a  turtle,  and  like  most 
boys,  gave  little  heed  to  the  difficulties  that  lay 
in  the  way  of  finding  any  water  at  all.  How- 
ever, when  he  visited  the  pond  again  some  days 
later,  he  was  much  surprised  to  find  the  old 
turtle  there  again  in  his  accustomed  place.  As 
the  Naturalist  grew  older,  he  came  to  under- 
stand that  wild  creatures  have  many  things  in 
common  with  us.  Love  of  home,  freedom,  and 
kindred  is  stronger  in  some  than  in  others,  but 
all  have  feelings  worthy  of  respect.  As  years 
passed  by  and  he  learned  more  and  more  of 


132 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


their  secrets,  he  came  to  have  a  great  fear  of 
making  unnecessary  pain  even  for  the  most 
insignificant  worm,  and  would  suffer  much 
inconvenience  in  the  way  of  damaged  garden 
or  shrubbery  before  he  could  bring  himself  to 
persecute  the  little  creatures,  which,  he  felt, 
had  as  good  a  right  to  live  their  lives  as  he. 

Every  year,  in  the  month  of  June,  Mother 
Snapping  Turtle  left  the  water  and  took  a  little 
journey.  To  see  her  quietly  on  her  way  few 


As  soon  as  an  egg  cracked  open,  a  little  nose  would  be  pushed  out,  and  there 
Baby  Turtle  would  sit  for  hours. 


THE   HATCHING  OF  THE  TURTLES      133 

would  guess  the  object  of  her  quest.  She  was 
seeking  a  suitable  place  to  lay  her  eggs  and 
leave  them  to  be  hatched  by  the  warmth  of  the 
sun's  rays.  She  sought  a  sandy  spot  where 
there  was  good  drainage.  The  sand  was 
warmer  than  the  dirt,  and,  probably  for  this 
reason  as  much  as  anything,  it  furnished  better 
conditions  for  the  purpose  she  desired. 

When  she  found  such  a  place  as  suited  her 
notion  she  would  hollow  out  a  hole  five  or  six 
inches,  or  more,  in  depth  and  then  deposit  all 
her  eggs  at  one  time.  If  she  came  and  laid  one 
each  day  as  birds  do,  several  weeks'  time 
would  be  necessary,  for  Mother  Snapping 
Turtle  lays  from  twenty  to  forty  eggs.  When 
the  eggs  are  all  in  the  hole  she  covers  it  very 
carefully,  leaving  little  outward  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  her  treasure,  and  returns  again 
to  the  water,  without  further  thought  or  care 
as  to  the  fate  of  her  offspring. 

The  eggs  do  not  hatch  until  September,  and 
when  hatching  time  finally  comes,  there  must 
be  a  grand  scratching  among  the  youngsters 
that  find  themselves  thus  buried  beneath  the 
surface.  The  little  fellows  dig  out  of  their 
cavern  and  find  their  way  to  the  water  where 
their  lives  will  be  spent. 


134  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

Sometimes  the  Naturalist  guessed  the  secret 
of  Mother  Snapping  Turtle  and  found  her 
nest.  Knowing  about  the  time  when  she 
would  be  making  her  journey  in  search  of  a 
nesting  place,  he  would  spend  some  of  the 
warm  afternoons  during  the  middle  of  June  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  pond  or  the  river  where  the 
snapping  turtles  lived.  Sometimes  he  would 
surprise  her  in  the  act  of  laying  her  eggs.  If 
disturbed,  she  would  try  to  hide  by  drawing 
her  head  as  far  back  as  possible  into  her  shell, 
and  later  make  off  to  the  water  without  cover- 
ing her  eggs. 

One  spring  he  decided  that  it  would  be  very 
nice  to  raise  a  family  of  turtles  himself,  so  he 
carefully  took  the  eggs,  which  were  round  as 
marbles  and  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and 
placed  them  in  a  box  of  sand  near  the  "Bug- 
house." The  box  of  sand  was  kept  in  the  open 
sunshine,  where  it  was  kept  warm  by  the  sun 
and  moist  by  the  rains  of  summer.  When  at 
last  September  came,  and  the  time  drew  near 
for  the  little  turtles  to  appear,  he  carefully 
removed  the  sand  from  above  them,  leaving 
only  a  very  thin  layer  which  would  betray  any 
movement  from  beneath. 

He  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  soon  the  eggs 


THE   HATCHING  OF  THE  TURTLES      135 

began  to  crack.  Instead  of  pipping  in  the 
manner  of  hen's  eggs  when  the  young  chicks 
are  hatching,  they  opened  across  one  side,  as 
can  be  seen  in  the  picture.  More  sand  was 


If  disturbed,  she  would  try  to  hide  by  drawing  her  head  as  far  back  as  possible 
into  her  shell. 

then  removed,  so  that  the  Naturalist  and  the 
boys  could  see  what  was  going  on.  As  soon  as 
an  egg  cracked  open,  a  little  nose  would  be 
pushed  out,  and  there  Baby  Turtle  would  sit 
for  hours.  Not  the  slightest  haste  was  mani- 
fested, and  the  watchers  at  times  became  tired 
of  waiting  so  long  for  any  new  action.  After 
waiting  for  a  long  time  one  foot  would  be 
pushed  through  the  hole,  and  after  another 


136  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

long  delay,  the  second  foreleg  would  also  ap- 
pear. There  it  would  remain  half  way  out  of 
the  shell  for  hours  longer.  At  last  it  would 
deliberately  crawl  free  from  the  shell,  and, 
since  it  was  so  far  from  the  water,  the  Natu- 
ralist would  place  it  in  a  shallow  aquarium. 
Two  or  three  days  elapsed  from  the  time  the 
first  egg  opened  until  the  last  baby  turtle  was 
out  of  its  shell.  They  took  very  kindly  to  the 
quarters  provided  for  their  benefit  and  greed- 
ily ate  the  flies  and  other  insects  which  the  boys 
supplied  as  food. 

They  spent  much  time  resting  on  flat  stones 
with  their  noses  out  of  the  water.  Sometimes 
they  would  bury  themselves  in  the  soft  sand 
on  the  bottom  of  the  aquarium  and  remain 
there  for  long  periods  of  time.  When  the 
cold  days  came  and  winter  drew  near  they  be- 
came less  active  and  took  less  food.  Finally, 
when  the  ponds  and  streams  froze  up,  they 
refused  food  altogether,  although  they  were 
kept  in  a  warm  room  by  the  fire.  They  be- 
came very  quiet  and  slept  in  the  sand  in  the 
bottom  of  the  aquarium  much  as  Mother 
Snapping  Turtle  was  doing  in  the  mud  at  the 
bottom  of  Horseshoe  Bend. 

When  spring  came  they  were  lively  again 


THE   HATCHING  OF  THE  TURTLES      137 

and  greedily  ate  the  flies.  Toward  fall  the 
Naturalist  decided  that  they  should  no  longer 
be  compelled  to  live  in  such  a  little  pond,  but 
that  they  should  be  free  to  grow  as  big  as  their 
mother.  They  had  grown  but  little  in  the 
year  spent  in  the  aquarium,  probably  from 
lack  of  proper  food,  although  these  reptiles 
do  not  make  very  much  growth  in  a  single 
year.  One  day  they  were  taken  to  the  river 
and  released  in  the  water  by  the  bridge. 
They  were  quick  to  appreciate  the  larger  free- 
dom and  immediately  disappeared  beneath  the 
muddy  water. 


THE 

GOLD-BANDED 

PAPER-MAKER 


THE  GOLD-BANDED  PAPER- 
MAKER1 

THE  weather  was  very  wet  and  the  Natu- 
ralist was  not  finding  his  usual  enjoy- 
ment in  the  open  air.  It  only  stopped  raining 
long  enough  to  get  ready  to  begin  again,  and 
there  were  few  of  the  bright  and  warm  days 
which  make  one  long  to  be  an  Indian  and  to 
live  always  out  of  doors.  Father  and  Mother 
Red-tail  had  found  the  little  grove  too  public 
a  place  to  raise  a  family,  and  this  year  had 
made  their  nest  in  some  distant  location  be- 
yond the  haunts  of  the  Naturalist  and  Tommy 
Jones. 

The  Screech  Owl  family  were  living  in  a 
ready-made  house  near  at  hand,  but  for  some 
reason  the  Naturalist  was  not  making  his  usual 
number  of  acquaintances.  It  so  happened  that 
on  the  sixth  of  June  he  was  walking  among  the 
beehives  when  he  chanced  to  pick  up  an  old 
cover  which  was  leaning  against  an  unused 


1  Polistes  metricus,  Say. 

141 


142  OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

hive.  To  his  surprise,  he  found  on  the  under 
side  of  the  cover  a  small  paper  nest,  and  on  it 
the  sole  proprietor,  Mrs.  Gold-banded  Paper- 
maker.  Two  years  before  he  had  become  in- 
terested in  a  similar  nest,  only  to  have  it  de- 
stroyed when  things  were  getting  really  inter- 
esting. He  determined  to  use  every  precau- 
tion to  prevent  a  similar  catastrophe  this  time, 
for  here  was  an  acquaintance  worth  while. 

Mother  Paper-maker  had  built  her  little 
nest  all  by  herself,  and  it  already  contained 
numerous  cells  which  served  the  purpose  of 
cradles  for  the  baby  wasps,  for  Mrs.  Paper- 
maker  was  a  wasp.  A  careful  count  showed 
fifteen  eggs,  and  eleven  young  larvae  that  had 
already  hatched. 

When  the  Naturalist  had  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Mrs.  Cottontail,  there  was  first 
Mother  Cottontail  and  then  the  babies.  When 
he  had  come  to  know  Mother  Red-tail,  there 
was  first  Mother  Red-tail,  then  the  eggs,  and 
later  the  babies.  When  the  insect  world 
opened  to  him,  the  life  cycle  was  still  longer, 
for  first  there  was  Mother  Paper-maker,  then 
the  eggs,  later  the  larvae;  then  they  encased 
themselves  in  silken  cocoons,  and  became 
pupa,  and  later  appeared  as  wasps  like  their 


THE   GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER        143 

mother.  Mother  Paper-maker  was  a  widow, 
for  Father  Paper-maker  had  died  the  fall  be- 
fore, shortly  after  their  honeymoon.  So 
Mother  Paper-maker  must  build  her  nest,  care 
for  her  young,  and  hunt  for  food  all  alone. 
The  Naturalist  was  very  anxious  to  pry  into 
the  secrets  of  her  household.  He  wished  to 
know  how  she  made  the  paper  from  which  she 
built  her  nest,  how  she  made  the  cells  after 
she  had  made  the  paper,  how  she  captured  the 
insects  on  which  she  fed  her  young,  and  many 
other  things.  It  no  longer  mattered  that 
Father  and  Mother  Red-tail  were  only  seen  on 
rare  occasions,  or  that  Mother  Polecat  had 
taken  her  family  and  moved  into  the  woods 
where  the  Naturalist  seldom  saw  them.  The 
new  friends  soon  occupied  so  much  of  his  time 
that  he  did  not  miss  the  old  friends  who  had 
moved  away. 

At  first  Mrs.  Paper-maker  was  much  dis- 
turbed at  his  presence,  but  he  came  so  often 
and  stayed  so  long  that  she  soon  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  his  visits,  even  when  he  took  the  cover 
to  which  her  nest  was  attached  and  laid  it  on 
his  lap  in  order  to  watch  her  movements. 
When  she  flew  away  for  food  he  always  put 
the  nest  back  exactly  as  it  had  been,  for  she 


144 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


could  not  find  it  otherwise,  even  though  she 
had  flown  directly  from  it  but  a  minute  or  two 
before. 

A  close  examination  of  the  nest  showed  that 


He  found  a  small  paper  nest. 


Mother  Wasp  feeding  her  young. 


the  eggs  were  not  placed  in  the  bottoms  of  the 
cells,  as  the  queen  bee  deposits  hers,  but  that 
they  were  attached  to  the  side  of  the  cell 
a  little  above  the  bottom.  When  the  young 
larvae  hatched  they  remained  attached  to 
the  cell  in  about  the  same  position.  The 
mother  wasp  spent  much  time  in  feeding  her 
young,  giving  them  such  attention  very  fre- 
quently, and  also  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
with  her  own  toilet.  After  every  meal  she 
would  carefully  clean  first  one  leg  and  then 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER        145 

another,  and  brush  every  particle  of  dust  off 
her  body  and  head. 

Soon  after  the  nest  was  found  the  weather 
turned  cool  and  it  rained  again.  With  the 
temperature  at  about  fifty  degrees,  the  mother 
settled  herself  quietly  on  the  nest  and  made  no 
move  to  feed  her  young  or  to  continue  her 
building.  Even  when  the  Naturalist  visited 
her  she  hardly  moved  from  her  resting  place 
above  the  nest.  Although  it  remained  cool  for 
two  days,  as  far  as  could  be  seen  the  larvae  were 
not  fed.  The  weather  warmed  somewhat  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  but  the  wasps 
were  not  apparently  conscious  of  it.  The 
fourth  day  the  mother  wasp  became  very  ac- 
tive again  and  fed  her  young  almost  con- 
stantly. The  Naturalist  was  much  puzzled 
about  her  feeding.  At  times  she  would  bring 
little  balls  of  food  which  he  learned  were 
bits  of  caterpillars  which  she  had  caught 
and  kneaded  into  pulp  between  her  mandibles. 
At  other  times  she  would  seem  to  feed  the  very 
young  larvae,  when  apparently  she  had  nothing 
to  give  them.  That  she  did  feed  them  he  was 
sure  because  they  moved  their  lips  as  though 
eating  after  she  left  them.  Some  birds  feed 
their  young  with  partly  digested  food  which  is 


146  OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

regurgitated  by  the  mother,  and  it  looked  as 
though  the  mother  wasp  must  be  doing  the 
same  thing.  The  pieces  of  caterpillar  steak 
which  she  brought  home  were  about  the  size  of 
small  number  eight  shot.  After  kneading  it 
carefully  by  turning  it  round  and  round  be- 
tween her  jaws,  seemingly  to  make  it  tender, 
she  would  divide  it  into  two  or  three  parts  and 
give  it  to  the  larger  larvae.  Sometimes  they 
would  suck  these  bits  for  several  minutes, 
when  the  mother  wasp  would  take  them  again 
and  eat  them  herself,  or  give  them  to  other 
larvae.  At  other  times  the  youngsters  would 
swallow  the  bits  after  sucking  them  for  several 
minutes. 

One  day  the  Naturalist  caught  a  mosquito 
and,  rolling  it  between  his  thumb  and  finger, 
imitated  the  kneading  which  the  mother  wasp 
gave  the  bits  of  food,  as  well  as  he  could. 
Then  placing  a  bit  of  it  on  a  grass  stem  he  gave 
it  to  a  larva.  The  little  larva  opened  its 
mouth,  much  like  a  young  bird  waiting  to  be 
fed,  and  took  the  bit  of  mosquito  and  tried  for 
some  time  to  eat  it.  He  caught  a  red  mite  also 
and  gave  to  another  in  similar  manner.  The 
mite,  being  very  small,  was  swallowed  at  once, 
but  the  larva  which  had  the  mosquito  was  still 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER       147 

wrestling  with  it  when  the  mother  wasp  re- 
turned to  the  nest  and  took  it  away.  After 
kneading  it  for  some  time  she  ate  it  herself. 

The  Naturalist  then  caught  other  mosquitos 
and  tried  to  feed  to  other  larvae  in  similar 
manner,  but  the  mother  wasp  seized  them  and 
bit  them  viciously  and  dropped  them  at  once. 
She  became  much  agitated  and  flitted  her 
wings  in  a  most  nervous  manner.  Finally  the 
Naturalist  fed  such  a  bit  to  a  larva  without  the 
mother  seeing  it  until  the  youngster  had  tried 
for  some  time  to  dispose  of  it.  Again  she  took 
it  and  kneaded  it  for  a  time,  but  instead  of  eat- 
ing it  herself,  as  she  did  the  first  time,  she  fed 
it  to  another  larva,  which  swallowed  it. 

Thus  the  Naturalist  took  lessons  from  the 
mother  wasp  in  feeding  the  babies,  which  were 
destined  to  serve  them  well  later  in  the  season 
when  the  mother  had  been  lost.  However, 
this  is  getting  ahead  of  the  story. 

The  Naturalist  was  anxious  to  see  the 
mother  in  the  act  of  enlarging  her  nest.  He 
had  seen  her  tear  down  part  of  some  cells  when 
she  was  agitated,  and  could  hear  the  cutting 
of  the  paper  with  her  sharp  mandibles.  After 
kneading  it  a  moment  she  had  fed  a  larva  a  bit 
of  the  paper,  which  it  ate  in  apparent  enjoy- 


148  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

ment.  He  had  also  seen  her  apparently  in  the 
act  of  building  just  for  a  moment  now  and 
then,  and  was  beginning  to  wonder  whether 
she  ever  worked  seriously  at  building. 

He  had  about  decided  that  she  did  such 
work  with  a  touch  now  and  then  at  odd  times, 
when  on  June  25,  after  nearly  three  weeks  of 
patient  watching,  he  saw  her  hard  at  work.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  weather  was  cool 
and  wet  much  of  the  time,  and  that  conditions 
were  favorable  for  insect  life  only  a  part  of  the 
time. 

She  gathered  her  raw  material  for  paper- 
making  near  at  hand,  and  the  Naturalist  had 
no  difficulty  in  following  her  from  the  nest  to 
a  weather-beaten  post  but  a  few  feet  distant, 
where  she  secured  her  pulp.  She  alighted  on 
the  post  and  with  her  mandibles  cut  away 
enough  of  the  weather-beaten  wood  to  make  a 
good  mouthful.  She  would  then  fly  directly  to 
the  nest,  where  she  would  stand  for  a  moment, 
kneading  the  pulp  between  her  jaws,  and  with 
her  forefeet  turning  it  round  and  round,  much 
as  she  did  the  caterpillar  which  she  was  pre- 
paring to  feed  the  young.  She  would  then 
spend  some  time  in  looking  about  over  her 
comb  to  select  a  suitable  place  for  work. 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER       149 

When  she  had  satisfied  herself  as  to  the  proper 
place  to  begin,  she  would  bite  the  soft  pulp 
against  the  top  of  a  partly  constructed  cell.  It 
seemed  very  soft  and  waxy  and  spread  easily. 
She  pushed  her  forefeet  against  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  thin  wall,  backing  slowly  around 
the  cell  and  drawing  out  the  new  tissue  very 
thinly.  Sometimes  she  would  pass  clear 
around  the  cell  and  sometimes  only  part  way. 
At  times  she  would  add  as  much  as  a  sixteenth 
of  an  inch  to  the  structure  with  a  single  mouth- 
ful. But  two  or  three  minutes  were  necessary 
to  get  a  load  of  raw  material.  After  each 
mouthful  she  would  rest  a  moment  and  make 
her  toilet.  Then  she  would  peek  into  a  few 
cells,  after  which  she  would  be  off  again,  for 
another  load. 

Between  times  she  made  a  very  elaborate 
toilet,  at  times  standing  on  her  hind  legs  and 
rubbing  the  other  four  together.  At  other 
times  she  would  stand  on  her  forelegs  and  ex- 
tend the  others  behind  her.  Rarely  she  stood 
on  her  right  middle  leg  in  about  her  normal 
position  and  stroked  herself  with  the  others  as 
well  as  rubbing  them  together.  Standing  thus 
on  one  leg,  she  presented  a  striking  appear- 
ance. 


150  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

Although  the  Naturalist  spent  much  time 
with  the  wasps  nearly  every  day,  it  was  a  long 
time  before  he  saw  Mother  Paper-maker  in 
the  act  of  laying  her  egg.  When  the  weather 
was  nice  she  laid  an  egg  nearly  every  day,  as 
he  knew  by  watching  carefully  the  cells  which 
were  empty  the  day  before.  In  cool  weather 
she  would  sometimes  miss  a  day  or  even  two  or 
three,  if  it  did  not  warm  up  during  a  part  of 
the  day.  The  Naturalist  would  make  careful 
note  of  every  empty  cell  daily  and  watch  to  see 
when  eggs  were  laid.  She  laid  on  the  nth 
and  1 2th,  then  again  on  the  i4th  and  i^th. 
Only  one  more  egg  was  then  laid  until  the 
aoth.  Apparently,  these  wasps  are  very  sensi- 
tive to  weather  conditions. 

After  many  days  of  waiting  the  Naturalist 
finally  decided  that  the  eggs  were  laid  in  the 
morning  between  eight  and  eleven  o'clock. 
Finally,  on  the  last  day  of  June,  he  decided 
that  he  must  witness  the  act  of  depositing  the 
egg  in  the  cell.  He  had  an  engagement  in  a 
distant  city  and  felt  that  he  could  not  be  con- 
tent to  go  until  his  curiosity  had  been  satisfied. 
Accordingly,  he  took  up  his  watch  soon  after 
eight  o'clock  and  waited.  The  mother  wasp 
was  rather  sluggish,  and  there  was  little  action 


THE   GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER        151 

to  keep  up  interest  in  the  wait  for  nearly  two 
hours,  before  she  began  preparing  for  her 
day's  work.  She  would  remain  entirely  mo- 
tionless for  many  minutes  at  a  time,  then  she 
would  look  into  a  few  cells  and  be  quiet  for  a 
long  period  again.  Finally  about  ten-thirty 
o'clock  she  flew  away  and  was  gone  but  a  few 
moments,  when  she  began  looking  about,  ap- 
parently in  search  of  an  empty  cell.  Finding 
one  by  pushing  her  head  in,  she  doubled  her- 
self very  shortly  and  pushed  her  abdomen  into 
it.  She  then  remained  quiet  with  her  ovi- 
positor near  the  bottom  of  the  cell  for  several 
minutes.  At  last  she  moved  out  and  again  put 
her  head  in  to  see  that  the  newly  laid  egg  was 
in  its  proper  place.  Afterward  she  again  be- 
came quiet  for  some  time.  Although  the 
Naturalist  nearly  missed  his  train  because  of 
his  long  wait  at  the  nest,  he  felt  amply  repaid 
for  the  time. 

A  number  of  eggs  were  noted,  to  ascertain 
the  time  required  for  hatching.  Most  of  them 
hatched  in  just  eighteen  days.  When  the 
weather  warmed  a  bit  some  hatched  in  sixteen 
days.  Since  the  weather  was  cool  and  the 
temperature  below  normal,  it  is  probable  that 
more  time  was  required  than  would  be  the 


152 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


case  in  a  warm  season.  A  number  of  those 
observed  in  spinning  their  cocoons  required 
twenty-three  days  to  complete  the  transforma- 
tion. A  few  individuals  required  twenty-five 


Larva  spinning  its  cocoon. 


The  emerging  wasps  would  not  forage 
for  baby  sisters. 


days.  Two  years  before,  some  under  similar 
observation  completed  this  stage  of  develop- 
ment in  only  fifteen  days,  so  the  weather  ap- 
parently greatly  influences  the  time  required 
in  the  different  stages. 

When  the  larvae  had  completed  their 
growth,  the  spinning  of  the  cocoons  was  an 
interesting  observation.  It  was  on  the  2^th  of 
June,  after  the  first  two  larvae  had  entered 
upon  their  long  sleep,  that  the  Naturalist  saw 
two  more  in  adjoining  cells  spin  their  cocoons 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER       153 

and  begin  the  wonderful  transformation,  dur- 
ing which  they  were  changed  from  helpless 
white  larvae  to  mature  wasps.  Probably  not 
more  than  an  hour  was  required  to  spin  the 
cocoon.  The  silk  was  very  filmy  and  so  fine 
that  a  single  strand  could  hardly  be  seen  with 
the  naked  eye.  During  the  spinning  the  larvae 
moved  their  heads  back  and  forth,  round  and 
round,  constantly  adding  to  the  web.  At  first 
it  was  very  thin,  and  the  inmates  of  the  cell 
could  easily  be  seen  at  work  through  the  thin 
network.  However,  it  gradually  thickened 
until  they  were  entirely  hidden  from  view  and 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  wait  until  the  baby 
awakened  from  its  sleep  and  came  forth  a 
glorified  creature,  as  compared  with  the  shape- 
less white  body  that  entered  the  quiet  cocoon. 

Thinking  to  see  something  of  the  wonderful 
change  as  it  took  place,  the  Naturalist  cut  a 
small  hole  in  the  top  of  one  cocoon.  The  day 
following  the  cell  was  found  to  have  been 
emptied  and  a  new  egg  placed  therein.  Ap- 
parently this  change  can  only  take  place  be- 
hind closed  doors  where  prying  eyes  cannot 
behold  the  preparation  for  its  resurrection. 

The  combs  of  the  honeybee  are  built  per- 
pendicular with  openings  on  both  sides.  The 


154  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

bottom  of  each  cell  is  opposite  a  part  of  the 
bottom  of  three  other  cells.  The  wasps  build 
their  combs  horizontally  with  the  open  end 
downward  and  no  opposite  cell.  While  the 
gold-banded  paper-maker  builds  only  a  single 
comb  and  makes  it  large  or  small  according  to 
whether  the  mother  wasp  be  vigorous  and  pro- 
lific, there  are  other  species  that  build  several 
combs,  one  above  another  and  inclose  them 
all  in  a  paper  case.  As  the  days  went  by  the 
Naturalist  came  to  cultivate  a  close  acquaint- 
ance with  the  little  yellow-banded  wasp  and 
her  offspring.  He  caught  mosquitos  and  fed 
to  the  larvae  almost  daily.  At  times  the  mother 
would  take  them  away  and  eat  them  herself, 
at  other  times  she  would  feed  them  to  the 
youngsters,  but  more  often  she  would  resent 
the  interference  with  her  family  affairs  and 
toss  the  dead  mosquito  contemptuously  away. 
At  times,  when  she  became  nervous  or  angry, 
she  would  cut  the  tops  of  some  of  the  paper 
cells.  Snip,  snip,  she  would  cut  away,  using 
her  mandibles  just  like  a  pair  of  scissors. 
Although  the  Naturalist  watched  closely,  he 
never  saw  her  feed  the  paper  to  her  young  but 
the  one  time  already  mentioned.  When  the 
Naturalist  found  small  caterpillars  she  would 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER       155 

accept  them  and  roll  them  up  carefully  and 
knead  the  little  ball  vigorously  and  feed  it  to 
the  larvae. 

On  warm  days  Mother  Paper-maker  was 
very  active.  Between  her  building  and  the 
feeding  of  her  young  she  was  busy  indeed. 
When  she  was  engaged  in  enlarging  the  home 
for  her  growing  family  she  would  make  a  trip 
for  wood  pulp  and  return  again  in  two  or  three 
minutes.  After  each  load  was  duly  placed  in 
the  wall  she  would  tarry  for  a  minute  or  two 
to  clean  herself  carefully  from  any  clinging 
dust,  and  be  off  again.  As  the  season  advanced 
the  number  of  larvae  increased,  and  made  a 
corresponding  demand  upon  their  busy 
mother  for  food.  By  this  time  several  had 
spun  their  cocoons,  but  others  were  hatching 
all  the  time,  and  more  eggs  were  being  laid  in 
the  newly  built  cells. 

On  the  morning  of  July  16,  the  Naturalist 
visited  the  nest  as  usual.  There  had  been  an 
unusually  heavy  rain  the  night  before,  lasting 
a  good  part  of  the  night.  When  he  peeked 
under  the  hive  cover  he  was  greatly  disturbed 
to  find  that  the  nest  had  fallen  to  the  ground, 
and  that  the  mother  wasp  was  not  to  be  seen. 
He  carefully  replaced  the  nest,  fastening  it 


156  OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

with  glue  and  pins  to  the  board  where  it  had 
formerly  been.  He  hoped  that  the  mother 
was  afield  in  search  of  food  and  that  she  would 
soon  return.  After  waiting  all  day  in  vain, 
he  was  convinced  that  she  had  gone  never  to 
return,  and  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do 
with  the  nestful  of  eggs,  larvae,  and  pupae. 
He  had  marked  a  number  of  them  in  order  to 
determine  the  period  of  their  various  stages  of 
growth,  and  felt  that  he  could  hardly  be  recon- 
ciled to  an  accident  of  this  kind. 

Near  at  hand  was  another  similar  nest,  but 
the  mother  was  not  a  very  lively  sort  and  had 
but  a  few  cells.  He  decided  to  give  her  both 
families  to  see  whether  she  would  adopt  the 
unfortunates.  Accordingly,  the  nest  was  fast- 
ened close  beside  her  own  nest  under  a  big  box 
lid. 

The  foster  mother  did  not  take  kindly  to 
such  an  arrangement,  and  moved  rapidly  over 
the  strange  comb,  flitting  her  wings  violently 
and  showing  evidences  of  displeasure.  Since 
the  Naturalist  had  seldom  visited  this  wasp,  he 
felt  that  perhaps  the  fact  of  his  presence 
caused  her  agitation  as  much  as  the  presence  of 
strange  babies.  Accordingly,  he  kept  away 
until  the  following  morning  in  order  to  give 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER        157 

her  an  opportunity  to  assume  her  new  respon- 
sibility without  unnecessary  annoyance.  On 
his  return  the  following  morning  he  found  her 


The  Naturalist  decided  to  take  the  nest  to  his  study,  and  see  what  he  could  do 
toward  raising  the  orphans  by  hand. 

with  her  head  in  a  cell.  She  came  out  with  an 
egg  in  her  jaws,  which  she  ate.  An  examina- 
tion showed  that  she  had  disposed  of  some  of 
the  larvae  in  a  similar  manner.  Since  the 
Naturalist  could  ill  afford  to  have  his  observa- 
tion interrupted  in  any  such  cannibalistic  man- 
ner as  that,  he  decided  to  take  the  nest  to  his 


158  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

study,  and  see  what  he  could  do  toward  raising 
the  orphans  by  hand. 

He  soon  realized  that  he  had  undertaken  a 
rather  novel  experiment.  There  were  eggs 
which  would  hatch  every  day  or  two  for  two 
or  three  weeks,  young  larvae  just  hatched  and 
others  in  every  stage  of  growth  up  to  those 
which  were  ready  to  spin  their  cocoons. 
There  were  also  a  considerable  number  of 
sealed  cells  containing  pupae,  but  as  yet  none 
of  the  young  wasps  had  emerged.  He  began 
to  frequent  the  cabbage  patch  in  search  of  cab- 
bage and  cutworms.  Placing  the  unfortunate 
worm  on  a  board,  he  would  cut  it  into  bits  with 
a  sharp  knife  and  feed  the  bits  to  the  larvae 
with  a  grass  stem  as  he  had  done  when  the 
mother  was  still  present.  He  found  it  possible 
to  feed  the  very  young  larvae  as  well  as  the 
older  ones,  but  they  did  not  thrive.  On  the 
1 8th  of  July  the  first  cell  opened  and  a  young 
wasp,  a  perfect  picture  of  the  missing  mother, 
emerged.  The  Naturalist  now  felt  his  hopes 
rise  high,  for  would  not  the  newly  matured 
lady,  mother  her  unfortunate  sisters?  He 
could  hardly  wait  to  see.  The  nest  was  placed 
on  the  porch  of  the  study  in  order  to  give  her 
full  opportunity  to  fly  to  the  fields  in  search 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER       159 

of  food  as  soon  as  she  was  old  enough  to  assume 
such  a  responsibility.  The  same  day  a  second 
female  emerged,  so  the  Naturalist  felt  that  he 
would  soon  be  relieved  of  his  arduous  task.  It 
is  a  hard  job  for  a  mere  man  to  mother  his  own 
offspring  at  a  tender  age,  and  when  it  comes 
to  feeding  newly  hatched  wasps  he  is  hardly 
prepared  to  do  full  justice  to  the  needs  of  the 
infants.  Within  a  few  hours  after  the  emer- 
gence of  the  young  wasps  he  caught  a  cutworm 
and  cut  it  up  for  the  larvae  as  usual,  but  this 
time  he  fed  the  bits  to  one  of  the  elder  sisters 
to  whom  he  was  looking  for  expert  assistance. 
To  his  great  joy,  she  took  it  and  holding  it 
between  her  forelegs,  kneaded  it  exactly  as  he 
had  seen  her  mother  do  so  many  times.  After 
the  food  had  received  suitable  preparation  she 
fed  one  or  two  of  the  larvae.  This  action 
within  a  few  hours  after  her  own  emergence, 
convinced  the  Naturalist  that  his  troubles 
were  soon  to  end.  However,  he  was  doomed 
to  disappointment,  for  this  proved  an  unusual 
case.  As  others  matured  and  the  nest  became 
populous  with  adult  females,  he  was  greatly 
disappointed  to  find  that  they  not  only  would 
not  forage  for  their  baby  sisters,  but  only  now 
and  then  would  they  even  take  the  trouble  to 


160 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


feed  them  after  he  had  caught  the  worms. 
None  of  the  mature  wasps  remained  more  than 
a  few  days,  when  they  disappeared. 


None  of  the  mature  wasps  remained  more  than  a  few  days,  when  they  dis- 
appeared. 

By  the  fifth  of  August  about  a  dozen  had 
emerged,  and  only  one  still  remained  at  the 
nest.  A  larva  which  hatched  on  June  29  died 
that  day.  It  was  one  which  had  been  marked 


THE   GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER        161 

to  determine  the  length  of  its  larval  period, 
and  although  the  Naturalist  had  kept  it  alive 
for  twenty  days  after  its  mother  had  disap- 
peared, it  was  apparently  no  larger  than  when 
she  last  fed  it  herself.  While  his  careful  min- 
istration had  been  sufficient  to  enable  the 
larger  larvae  to  complete  their  growth,  the 
food  which  he  was  able  to  supply  did  not  meet 
the  needs  of  the  very  young  ones.  Either  it 
was  not  suitable  in  quality,  or  it  was  not  prop- 
erly prepared  or  supplied  in  proper  quantity 
or  at  the  proper  time.  At  any  rate,  he  did  not 
succeed  in  raising  any  of  the  larvae  that  were 
not  more  than  half  grown  at  the  death  of  their 
mother. 

About  this  time  he  found  still  another  small 
nest  under  the  eaves  of  his  study,  and  having 
given  up  hope  of  further  success  by  hand,  he 
pinned  this  nest  beside  the  other  to  see  whether 
there  would  be  any  better  success  in  getting  the 
orphans  adopted  than  in  the  previous  instance. 
The  weather  was  still  cool  and  wet.  The 
summer  of  1915  was  a  record-breaker  in  this 
respect.  A  week  later  the  Naturalist  ex- 
amined the  two  other  nests  of  the  same  kind, 
only  to  find  them  deserted,  the  mother  wasps 
having  disappeared.  The  nest  which  he  had 


162  OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

so  long  cared  for  still  remained  beside  the  one 
which  he  had  hoped  would  adopt  it  as  part  of 
the  family,  but  the  mother  of  this  family  had 
apparently  gone  also,  although  two  lately 
emerged  females  were  present. 

It  was  on  the  same  day  that  he  found  an- 
other paper-maker's  nest,  larger  and  more 
populous  than  any  he  had  found.  All  the 
others,  excepting  the  unfortunate  one  under 
his  direct  care,  had  been  small  and  the  mothers 
had  disappeared  early.  Up  to  this  time  he 
had  not  seen  a  single  male,  and  he  was  begin- 
ning to  wonder  about  where  the  fathers  of  the 
next  generation  were  to  come  from.  Since  the 
other  nests  with  which  he  had  occupied  him- 
self were  now  practically  deserted,  he  was 
glad,  indeed,  to  find  one  in  normal  condition. 
An  examination  showed  that  there  were  still 
eggs  and  young  larva?  in  the  new  nest,  besides 
pupae  and  seven  adult  females.  He  was  so 
curious  about  the  new  discovery  that  he  was 
stung  four  times  that  day  for  insisting  on  look- 
ing into  things  that  the  wasps  seemed  to  feel 
were  none  of  his  business.  On  September  4 
there  was  only  one  egg  still  unhatched,  but 
still  no  males  had  appeared.  It  was  not  until 
September  10  that  the  first  male  emerged. 


THE  GOLD-BANDED   PAPER-MAKER        163 

He  was  recognized  on  sight  because  of  his 
bright  yellow  face  and  lighter  color.  The 
seven  segments  of  the  abdomen  and  the  ab- 
sence of  a  sting  established  the  sex  beyond 
question.  For  several  days  about  as  many 
males  appeared  as  females,  but  soon  there 
were  more  males.  By  the  aist  of  September 
the  Naturalist  found  that  there  were  more 
males  at  the  nest  than  females.  As  about  as 
many  were  leaving  the  nest  as  were  emerging 
from  the  cells,  the  tendency  was  toward  a  de- 
crease in  number  of  adults  present  rather  than 
an  increase.  The  last  larva  died  on  October  3. 
It  was  nearly  grown,  but  had  apparently  not 
grown  any  for  many  days.  Apparently,  its 
sisters  had  fed  it  just  enough  to  keep  it  alive, 
but  not  sufficient  to  enable  it  to  complete  its 
development.  The  Naturalist  had  not  marked 
the  date  when  it  hatched,  but  it  was  about  the 
same  size  as  another  which  hatched  on  August 
10.  If  the  age  was  the  same  as  it  appeared,  it 
was  about  fifty  days  old.  At  that  time  there 
were  still  a  few  sealed  cells  from  which  the 
pupae  were  still  to  emerge,  and  one  lone  female 
remained  at  the  nest.  The  season  had  been  so 
abnormal  that  the  Naturalist  had  found  it  very 
difficult  to  make  satisfactory  observations  and 


164  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

the  variation  was  such  that  no  satisfactory 
estimate  could  be  made  of  the  normal  period 
required  for  completing  the  life  cycle. 

With  the  approach  of  autumn  the  females 
seek  their  mates,  and  then  hibernate  in  some 
sheltered  place  where  they  pass  the  winter. 
With  the  coming  of  another  summer  the  Natu- 
ralist will  seek  their  nests  again  in  the  hope  of 
observing  them  under  more  favorable  condi- 
tions. This  time  he  will  be  familiar  with  their 
habits  and  will  not  find  it  difficult  to  see  the 
thing  for  which  he  is  looking.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  suggest  that  he  will  not  likely 
undertake  to  raise  another  wasp  family  by 
hand. 


BUNNY  COTTONTAIL 


BUNNY  COTTONTAIL 

OOK  out,  papa,  and  see  who's  here." 
Three  full-grown  rabbits  playing  on 
the  lawn  were  what  papa  saw.  Back 
and  forth,  round  and  round  they  ran 
like  children  playing  tag.  Sometimes 
one  would  jump  high  into  the  air  and 
kick  up  his  heels.  They  cut  up  all 
kinds  of  antics,  for  all  the  world  like 
a  lot  of  schoolboys.  The  rabbits  had 
come  to  feel  very  secure  in  the  black- 
berry thicket  behind  the  apiary,  and 
would  come  out  to  play  in  the  morning  or 
evening,  and  sometimes  in  the  middle  of  the 
day.  There  were  dozens  of  them  living  in  the 
orchard  and  the  little  wood.  In  summer  they 
were  the  delight  of  the  whole  family,  although 
they  did  eat  most  of  the  peas  planted  in  the 
garden,  but  in  winter  they  were  the  despair  of 
the  Naturalist,  because,  try  as  he  would,  he 
could  not  prevent  them  from  girdling  his 
young  fruit  trees,  cutting  off  the  tender  shoots 
of  his  shrubbery,  and  barking  his  blackberry 
bushes.  Every  winter  the  trouble  increased, 

167 


168  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

since  the  number  of  rabbits  had  multiplied 
surprisingly.  Only  once  did  the  Naturalist 
lose  patience  and  permit  two  hunters  to  spend 
a  half  day  hunting  rabbits.  They  were  in- 
structed that  no  matter  what  else  they  saw  they 
must  not  shoot.  Birds,  squirrels,  even  skunks 
must  be  protected,  but  the  rabbits  were  get- 
ting too  thick.  As  a  result  of  their  few  hours' 
shoot  the  two  men  killed  sixty  rabbits.  In 
spite  of  his  damaged  shrubs  the  Naturalist 
felt  very  guilty,  and  could  not  quite  bring  him- 
self to  permit  the  shooting  to  be  repeated,  al- 
though he  never  could  see  that  there  were  any 
less  rabbits  than  there  were  before.  The  an- 
imals multiply  so  rapidly  in  a  protected  area 
that  they  soon  become  a  real  problem.  If  it 
had  not  been  for  the  fact  that  the  polecat 
family  sometimes  dined  on  rabbit,  they  would 
have  overrun  the  place. 

In  spite  of  their  mischief  the  Naturalist  and 
all  his  family  loved  the  little  animals,  and 
never  tired  of  watching  their  play.  Baby  Ruth 
watched  them  with  delight  and  would  call 
"Bunny  Rabbit,"  "There's  Bunny  Rabbit." 

The  rabbit  is  a  timid  and  defenseless  animal, 
and  a  harassed  life  is  his.  With  his  numerous 
enemies  his  life  is  constantly  in  peril.  Hunters 


BUNNY  COTTONTAIL 169 

and  dogs  constantly  seek  his  life  by  day,  and  if, 
perchance,  no  other  danger  is  nigh,  the  big 
red-tail  hawk  swoops  down  from  the  open  sky 
intending  to  make  a  meal  of  him.  By  night 
the  big  horned  owl  flies  stealthily  overhead, 


The  rabbit  is  a  timid  and  defenseless  animal. 

and  is  likely  to  catch  Bunny  unawares.  If  he 
rests  quietly  in  a  warm  corner  of  a  hollow  log, 
or  even  in  his  grassy  form,  Mother  Polecat  is 
quite  likely  to  happen  along  and  slay  him 
without  mercy.  Besides  all  these  dangers 
which  require  constant  vigilance  on  Bunny's 
part,  the  small  boy  sets  an  innocent-looking 
trap,  which,  if  he  enters  in  search  of  shelter,  is 
immediately  sprung,  and  Mr.  Cottontail  finds 
himself  a  prisoner,  with  a  fine  chance  that  he 
will  be  served  for  somebody's  dinner.  Bunny 
is  not  a  suspicious  fellow,  and  if  the  trap  shows 


170 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


evidence  of  having  been  occupied  by  rabbits 
previously,  he  enters  without  hesitation. 
Knowing  this,  the  small  boy  will  take  a  rabbit 


Small  boys  set  an  innocent- looking  trap. 

caught  in  an  old  trap  and  confine  it  for  a  time 
in  his  new  trap,  before  setting  it.  If  the 
weather  is  fine,  Bunny  prefers  to  remain  out- 
side, and  the  traps  are  of  little  use  to  the  boys 
who  set  them  with  so  much  care.  When  the 
weather  is  very  cold  and  stormy,  and  there  is 
greater  need  of  shelter,  Bunny  enters  the  trap, 


BUNNY  COTTONTAIL 171 

and,  backing  into  the  farther  end,  springs  the 
trigger,  and  lo!  he  is  caught  at  last. 

In  mild  weather,  be  it  winter  or  summer, 
all  that  the  rabbit  asks  in  the  way  of  shelter  is 
a  thick  bunch  of  grass  that  will  furnish  him  a 
hiding  place.  Here  he  makes  a  nice  form 
which  looks  somewhat  like  a  nest,  and  sits 
quietly  resting  until  all  is  quiet  and  he  feels 
that  it  is  safe  to  go  abroad  in  search  of  his 
dinner. 

The  polecat  moves  so  slowly  that  his  only 
chance  to  catch  Bunny  is  to  take  him  by  sur- 
prise. The  big  birds  which  seek  his  life  also 
approach  quietly,  and  catch  him  before  he 
knows  that  danger  is  present.  Coyotes,  foxes, 
and  dogs  may  take  a  chance  on  overtaking  him 
with  a  straight  race,  but  Bunny  is  very  clever 
and  has  learned  many  tricks  to  throw  them  off 
the  scent.  The  Naturalist  would  sometimes 
climb  high  in  a  tree,  when,  on  a  winter  day, 
he  heard  the  bark  of  dogs  that  told  that  they 
were  following  swiftly  on  Bunny's  track. 
When  the  leaves  had  fallen  he  could  see  what 
was  going  on  below  for  some  distance  around. 

When  a  dog  would  frighten  Bunny  from  his 
hiding  place  he  would  scamper  away  as  fast  as 
he  could  run,  with  the  dog  barking  at  his  heels. 


172  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

The  little  wood  had  grown  up  very  thick,  and 
there  was  much  underbrush,  so  that  Bunny 
could  take  sharp  turns  that  were  hard  for  the 
dog  to  follow.  Usually  the  dog  would  soon 
find  it  necessary  to  follow  the  scent  and  de- 
pend upon  his  nose,  rather  than  his  eyes.  As 
soon  as  the  rabbit  had  a  safe  lead,  he  would 
begin  running  in  circles,  then  in  double  circles 
or  figure  eights,  frequently  coming  back  to  the 
same  point.  Nearly  always  this  would  be  too 
much  for  the  dog,  as  he  could  not  unravel  the 
maze  of  mystery,  and  he  would  run  round  and 
round  over  the  same  tracks  which  he  had  al- 
ready followed.  After  making  a  few  such 
puzzling  trails  to  occupy  the  dog,  Bunny 
would  run  straight  away  as  fast  as  he  could  go 
for  the  blackberry  thicket  near  the  Natural- 
ist's house,  for  dogs  were  not  permitted  to 
trouble  him  there. 

Laboratory  scientists  who  have  used  white 
rabbits  in  confinement  to  study  their  reasoning 
powers,  have  found  them  very  stupid  animals. 

Out-of-door  naturalists,  who  have  watched 
them  in  the  open  and  admired  the  many  tricks 
which  they  use  to  avoid  their  numerous  en- 
emies, have  found  them  to  be  very  clever  in- 
deed. The  laboratory  naturalist  will  say  that 


BUNNY  COTTONTAIL 


173 


all  animal  mental  processes  are  instinctive,  and 
that  there  is  no  understanding  of  the  objects 
sought,  or  deliberation  as  to  methods  to  be  em- 
ployed. The  out-of-door  naturalist,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  say  that  the  manifestation  of 
ability  to  devise  means  to  accomplish  ends  is 
evidence  of  some  degree  of  reasoning  power, 
and  this  the  rabbit  seems  able  to  do. 

Since  her  offspring  are  born  helpless  and 
blind,  Mother  Cottontail  depends  upon  her 
skill  in  hiding  them  to  keep  them  from  danger. 
She  makes  a  little  hollow  in  the  earth,  not 
much  larger  than  a  robin's  nest,  and  lines  it 
with  her  own  fur.  In  this  warm  nest  she 
places  her  young  and  covers  them  very  clev- 
erly. Even  when  the  Naturalist  knew  the 
location  of  her  nest,  he  had  to  look  very  closely 
to  find  it,  for  there  was  no  outward 
indication  of  its  presence.  She 
would  cover  it  with  grass  or  ^gg| 
leaves  exactly  like  the  sur- 
roundings, and,  although 
there  were  dozens  of 
them  about,  it  was  only 
rarely  that  the  Natu- 
ralist or  his  boys 
were  able  to  find 


Baby  Cottontail  after 
leaving  the  nest. 


firs^&^^fflfcjfcfe 


*w^-fas 


She  makes  a  little  hollow  in  the  earth  and  lines  it  with  her  own  fur. 


The  young  rabbit  in  its  snug  little  nest. 


BUNNY   COTTONTAIL 


175 


one,  unless  it  was  turned  out  by  the  plow.  If, 
perchance,  they  did  find  one,  and  carefully 
turn  back  the  leaves,  there  were  the  young 


They  were  likely  to  skip  out  and  depend  on  their  ability  to  hide. 

rabbits  in  the  snug  little  nest.  On  such  occa- 
sions they  were  not  long  permitted  to  know 
the  rabbit's  secret,  for  if  the  babies  were  very 
young,  their  mother  would  soon  move  them 
to  a  new  place;  and  if  their  eyes  were  open 
and  they  could  run,  they  were  likely  to  skip 
out  and  depend  upon  their  ability  to  hide 


176  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

rather  than  to  remain  in  a  nest  whose  location 
was  known,  even  to  a  friendly  naturalist. 
After  they  leave  the  nest  they  still  receive  their 
mother's  care,  although  her  brood  is  scattered 
quickly.  While  the  mother  is  very  timid,  she 
will  respond  to  the  cry  of  her  distressed  young. 
If,  however,  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a 
man  or  the  jaws  of  a  dog,  she  realizes  that  dis- 
cretion is  the  better  part  of  valor  and  seeks  her 
own  safety. 

At  times  rabbits  fight  each  other  desper- 
ately, and  the  Naturalist  knew  cases  where 
they  even  chewed  each  other's  ears  off,  though 
the  fighting  animals  were  in  confinement, 
where  the  unfortunate  which  was  getting  the 
worst  of  it  could  not  escape  from  her  antago- 
nist. In  the  open  the  trouble  is  not  likely  to  be 
so  long  continued,  for  there  is  always  the 
alternative  of  flight. 

Since  the  rabbit  has  no  means  of  defense,  it 
always  seems  to  be  on  the  watch  for  danger, 
ready  to  be  off  with  the  slightest  alarm.  The 
long  ears  are  sensitive  to  the  slightest  sound, 
and  Bunny  takes  no  chances  when  his  suspi- 
cions are  aroused.  He  always  prefers  to  take 
his  chances  in  the  woods  or  the  open  field, 
rather  than  to  trust  to  a  hole  in  the  ground  or 


BUNNY  COTTONTAIL 


177 


a  hollow  tree.  It  is  only  when  very  hard 
pressed,  and  there  seems  no  other  chance  of 
escape,  that  he  will  take  to  such  a  shelter  to 
escape  an  enemy. 


Ready  to  be  off  with  the  slightest  alarm. 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 

THE  Naturalist  was  very  much  annoyed. 
Something  was  taking  his  turkey  eggs. 
He  could  look  with  composure  upon  the  loss 
when  the  polecats  robbed  a  hen's  nest,  and  did 


Jolly  Jim  Crow. 

not  take  it  as  seriously  as  might  be  when  the 
rabbits  girdled  his  young  apple  trees.  His 
White  Holland  turkeys  were  his  special  de- 
light, however,  and  it  was  quite  a  different 
matter  when  anything  happened  to  them. 
They  were  excellent  birds  of  a  breeding  which 

181 


182 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


gave  their  owner  cause  for  pride,  and,  besides, 
he  was  selling  the  eggs  for  a  quarter  apiece  for 
hatching  purposes.  Twenty-five  cents  a  meal 
for  the  denizens  of  the  wood  which  ate  a  dozen 


A  sly  old  rascal  was  robbing  the  turkey's  nest. 

or  more  times  a  day,  seemed  a  rather  high 
price.  He  had  smiled  at  Tommy  Jones's  dis- 
pleasure when  the  cooper  hawk  was  catching 
his  chickens,  but  now  it  was  the  Naturalist's 
turn  to  question  the  habits  of  some  of  his 
neighbors.  It  did  not  take  long  to  find  the  cul- 
prit, but  to  catch  him  was  a  different  matter. 
The  turkeys'  white  feathers  made  them  very 
conspicuous,  and  they  could  be  seen  for  a 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 


183 


long  distance.  A  black  old  rascal  of  a  crow 
sat  on  the  top  of  a  high  tree  in  the  little  wood, 
and  watched  when  one  of  them  would  go  to 
her  nest.  As  soon  as  she  left,  he  immediately 
made  a  dinner  of  the  egg.  For  a  time  the 
Naturalist  was  inclined  to  get  angry  and  to 
shoot  the  old  crow  (in  case  he  should  get  a 
chance).  After  a  time  he  became  ashamed  of 
the  idea  that  he  should  find  it  necessary  to  go 
gunning  for  any  wild  creature  that  lived  in 
the  little  wood,  and  decided  that  if  he  could 
not  have  turkeys  without  such  a  performance, 
he  would  sell  the  turkeys,  so  sell  them  he 
did. 

He  was  not  the  only  one  who  had  turkeys, 
however,  and  the  black  old  bird  and  others  of 
his  kind,  ate  most  of  the  turkey  eggs  in  the 
whole  neighborhood.  At  one  time  the  old 
scamp  found 
that  the  Natu- 
ralist  had  a 
nice  flock  of 
baby  chicks, 
and  took  to 
dining  on 
them.  He  con- 
ferred similar 


Crow's  egg,  life  size. 


184  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

attentions  upon  the  neighbors  also  until 
Tommy  Jones  saw  the  old  fellow  after  his 
dinner,  and  shot  him — killed  in  the  very  act  of 
carrying  off  a  young  chicken,  there  was  no 
question  but  that  Tommy  had  killed  the  iden- 
tical crow  that  was  causing  so  much  mischief. 
There  were  still  many  crows  about,  and  they 
came  around  the  Naturalist's  home  as  freely 
as  before,  but,  much  to  his  relief,  they  did  not 
trouble  the  baby  chicks  any  more.  The  fact 
was  thus  established  that  only  the  one  crow  in 
that  flock  was  taking  the  young  chickens,  al- 
though there  were  others  that  liked  turkey 
eggs. 

The  crow  is  a  very  intelligent  bird  and 
learns  easily.  One  who  watches  them  closely 
will  soon  learn  that  there  is  a  great  difference 
in  their  individual  peculiarities.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  execution  of  the  old  sinner  which 
was  taking  the  little  chickens,  probably  all  the 
crows  in  the  neighborhood  would  have  soon 
learned  the  same  trick.  The  nests  of  both  hens 
and  turkeys  were  robbed  so  persistently  that 
the  thirteen  guns  which  had  been  loaded  for 
the  red-tails  were  trained  upon  the  crows  at 
every  opportunity.  However,  this  fact  seemed 
to  give  them  little  anxiety,  for  they  were  abun- 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 185 

dantly  able  to  look  out  for  themselves.  When 
no  one  was  watching  they  would  alight  in  a 
barn  lot  or  orchard,  while  one  of  their  number 
kept  watch  in  some  commanding  position.  At 
the  least  suspicious  sign  he  would  give  the 
alarm  and  the  whole  flock  would  slip  away  be- 
fore a  man  or  a  boy  could  get  within  gunshot. 
The  Naturalist  never  worried  on  their  ac- 
count, for  he  felt  very  sure  that  no  matter  how 
many  boys  and  guns  were  watching  for  them, 
there  would  be  no  apparent  diminution  of 
their  numbers. 

The  poor  crow  is  almost  universally  dis- 
trusted. In  the  wooded  regions  he  is  in  disre- 
pute because  of  his  habit  of  pulling  up  sprout- 
ing grain.  Some  also  accuse  him  of  injury  to 
melons,  and  a  scarecrow  of  some  kind  is  a  com- 
mon sight  in  the  small  fields.  In  Iowa  he  is 
maligned  as  an  egg-sucker  and  accused  of 
catching  the  young  poultry.  In  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  the  grain  fields  are  so  extensive 
that  the  small  amount  of  grain  which  he  de- 
stroys is  seldom  missed.  The  fact  is  that  he 
is  guilty  of  all  the  counts  in  the  indictment,  but 
"catching  comes  before  hanging,"  and  the 
crow  has  learned  how  to  avoid  the  numerous 
pitfalls  designed  for  his  undoing. 


186  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

Such  friends  as  the  Naturalist  are  fully 
alive  to  the  good  traits,  which  are  not  inconsid- 
erable, for  he  renders  great  service  in  the  de- 
struction of  grubs,  beetles,  and  young  field 
mice.  Although  such  would  give  him  all  his 
due,  they  can  hardly  be  blind  to  his  shortcom- 
ings. However,  it  would  be  unwise  to  con- 
demn him  in  too  sweeping  a  fashion,  for  in 
many  localities  he  is  undoubtedly  a  valuable 
ally  in  overcoming  certain  pests.  It  is  a  mis- 
fortune when  a  misguided  legislative  body 
places  a  bounty  on  his  head.  While  at  certain 
times  in  certain  localities  his  mischief  seems 
to  justify  his  destruction,  the  annoyance  caused 
by  his  pranks  is  a  sufficient  incentive  without 
adding  a  bounty,  which  will  also  be  effective 
in  localities  where  he  renders  a  service  that 
more  than  offsets  his  injuries. 

The  Naturalist  was  very  much  interested  in 
the  elaborate  notes  by  means  of  which  the 
birds  communicated  with  each  other,  and 
spent  many  months  learning  to  imitate  their 
call.  In  time  he  came  to  give  the  call  so  per- 
fectly as  to  deceive  strange  crows  which  had 
not  learned  to  look  with  suspicion  upon  a  call 
from  an  unusual  position.  One  spring  day 
when  the  Naturalist  was  renewing  his  ac- 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 187 

quaintance  with  the  first  arrivals  after  a 
winter's  absence,  he  amused  himself  by  hiding 
and  watching  the  movements  of  flocks  of  crows 
which  were  passing.  There  were  numerous 
crows  passing  by,  all  bound  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. They  did  not  come  in  large  flocks,  but 
two  or  three  at  a  time,  and  kept  coming  for 
a  considerable  time.  An  old  sentinel  in  the 
top  of  a  tall  tree  called,  "Caw-caw,  caw-caw, 
caw-caw,  caw,"  to  each  bunch  that  passed. 
After  watching  them  for  some  time  and  noting 
that  he  gave  the  same  signal  every  time,  with- 
out variation,  the  Naturalist  became  very  anx- 
ious to  learn  the  meaning  of  this  particular 
signal,  and  the  place  to  which  it  directed  the 
passing  birds. 

After  the  sentinel  had  given  his  signal  to  a 
passing  bird  and  it  had  gone  on  for  a  little  dis- 
tance, the  Naturalist  gave  three  short,  quick 
notes,  in  imitation  of  one  of  their  alarm  sig- 
nals, "Caw,  caw,  caw."  The  bird  that  had 
passed,  at  once  turned  and  came  back,  circ- 
ling about  in  search  of  the  source  of  the  call. 
Seeing  nothing,  he  again  started  off  in  the  same 
direction  in  which  he  had  been  going.  Again 
the  Naturalist  called,  and  again  he  came  back. 
The  third  time  he  responded  to  the  call  and 


188  OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

wheeled  about  overhead.  The  fourth  time  he 
flew  directly  to  a  nearby  tree  and  called,  "Caw, 
caw,  caw,"  rather  slowly.  Upon  receiving  his 
answer  he  detected  the  deception,  and  flew 
away  as  rapidly  as  possible,  paying  no  further 
attention  to  the  calls.  There  was  so  much  fun 
in  watching  the  birds  trying  to  find  the  lost 
member  of  their  tribe,  that  the  Naturalist  re- 
peated the  experiment  at  intervals  during  the 
morning  with  similar  results.  Some  birds 
would  solve  the  mystery  sooner  than  others, 
but  he  was  able  to  deceive  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  them. 

After  learning  to  imitate  their  calls,  the 
Naturalist  took  keen  delight  in  trying  to  ascer- 
tain the  meaning  of  their  various  notes.  On 
one  occasion  a  pair  of  crows  located  a  horned 
owl  near  their  nest.  Upon  giving  the  alarm 
there  were  soon  nineteen  crows  tormenting  one 
poor  owl.  They  drove  him  from  tree  to  tree, 
all  the  time  cawing  in  the  most  distressing 
manner,  until  the  bird  seemed  fairly  dis- 
traught. For  a  long  time  after  that  occasion 
the  Naturalist  enjoyed  hiding  and  repeating 
the  alarm  signal  which  he  had  heard  given  at 
that  time.  Soon  crows  would  be  coming  from 
every  direction  and  looking  for  the  owl,  or 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 189 

for  some  other  occasion  for  a  general  congre- 
gation. Once,  when  the  Naturalist  was  enjoy- 
ing a  stroll  through  a  bit  of  woods  several  hun- 
dred miles  from  his  home,  he  remarked  to 
friends  that  he  had  not  seen  a  crow  in  that 
neighborhood.  When  assured  that  crows 
were  present  in  the  locality,  he  at  once  gave 
the  alarm  call  and  astonished  his  friends  by 
bringing  together  a  goodly  flock  within  a  few 
minutes. 

These  experiments  convinced  the  Naturalist 
that  the  crow  has  a  more  highly  developed 
system  of  communication  by  means  of  vocal 
notes,  which  more  nearly  approach  spoken 
language  than  any  other  native  bird.  He  also 
became  convinced  that  by  devoting  sufficient 
time  to  it  one  could  come  to  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  various  notes,  and  possibly 
interpret  their  communications. 

One  spring  the  Naturalist  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  to  take  a  young  crow  from  the 
nest  before  it  could  fly.  It  was  fed  freely  with 
bread  and  milk  and  such  table  scraps  as  it 
would  eat.  The  youngster  soon  became  very 
tame,  and  made  himself  at  home  among  the 
trees  about  the  house.  He  made  friends  with 
the  bantam  hen  and  with  a  skunk  that  lived 


190 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


there  at  the  time.  On  occasion  they  would  all 
investigate  the  possibilities  of  dinner  from 
the  same  pan,  as  all  were  permitted  to  help 


he  made  friends  with  the  bantam  hen  and  with  a  skunk  that  lived  ihere  at  the  time. 


themselves  from  the  supply  of  table  scraps 
which  Mrs.  Naturalist  set  out  for  them.  He 
was  a  most  interesting  bird,  but  suspicious  of 
every  stranger.  When  visitors  came  and  de- 
sired to  make  his  acquaintance  he  would  usu- 
ally take  himself  to  the  top  of  some  of  the  tall- 
est trees  and  caw,  but  would  refuse  to  come 
down  at  the  call  of  the  Naturalist.  He  was 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 


191 


very  diffident  about  having  his  picture  taken, 
and  although  he  would  take  food  from  the 
Naturalist's  hand  when  no  one  was  near,  if  the 


The  baby  was  feeding  him  bread  and  milk  with  a  spoon. 

latter  had  no  suspicious  implements,  it  proved 
a  very  hard  matter  to  get  him  to  pose  for  a 
photo.  One  morning  the  Naturalist  had  tried 
for  a  very  long  time  to  get  a  picture  without 
success,  and  had  gone  to  the  house.  On  look- 
ing out  he  saw  the  baby  feeding  him  bread  and 
milk  with  a  spoon,  and  snapped  a  most  unex- 
pected pose  of  both. 


192 


OUR  BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


Although  he  never  learned  to  talk,  Jim 
Crow  learned  a  very  good  imitation  of  a 
laugh.  He  would  alight  on  any  chance  object 
near  the  Naturalist  and  laugh  heartily  at  the 
slightest  excuse.  He  seemed  to  have  no  under- 
standing of  the  call  of  the  wild  crows  that 
came  about  the  place,  and  could  never  seem  to 
know  quite  what  to  make  of  their  noise  when 
they  alighted  in  the  trees  and  tried  to  scrape  an 
acquaintance.  He  laughed  so  much  that  he 
was  entitled  to  his  name  of  "Jolly  Jim  Crow." 

However,  some  of  his 
pranks  did  not  seem  so 
funny  to  the  Naturalist. 
One  day  he  was  feeding 
with  the  hens,  when  he 
pecked  an  old  hen  so 
hard  on  the  head,  that 
she  reeled  for  a  mo- 
ment and  then  fell 
dead.  Jolly  Jim 
laughed  very  hard  at 
^Ji  ••  this,  and  for  a  moment 

the  N  a  t  u  r  a  1  i  s  t  was 
tempted  to  wring  his 
neck. 

One     morning     the 


The  boys  decided  that  crows  would  be  very  good 
subjects  for  observing  on  their  own  account. 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 


193 


Naturalist  found  him  with  a  wound  on  his 
own  head,  the  result  of  some  kind  of  an  acci- 
dent. His  laugh  that  day  had  a  sob  in  it,  and 
poor  Jolly  Jim  Crow  soon  died.  In  spite  of 
his  mischief,  he  was  missed  very  much  by  his 
friends  who  have  continued  to  look  forward 
to  another  tame  crow  who  would  laugh  at  the 
misfortunes  of  the  tenants  of  the  barnyard. 

One  spring  the  boys  decided  that  it  was  time 
for  them  to  be  naturalists  on  their  own  ac- 
count, and  to  make  some  observations  accord- 
ing to  their  own  no- 
tions. They  decided 
that  crows  would  be 
very  good  subjects,  and 
tramped  the  woods 
along  the  river  for 
miles,  as  well  as  care- 
fully examining  every 
part  of  the  little  wood 
in  search  of  their  nests. 
After  spending  several 
hours  in  searching, 
they  found  a  nest  in  a 
tall  tree  near  the  river, 
and  about  a  mile  from 
home.  It  was  no  mean 

F*Se 

It  was  no  mean  climb  to  the  nest. 


194  OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 

climb  to  the  nest,  and  Kent  being  the  eldest, 
claimed  the  privilege  of  first  examination. 

They  kept  a  careful  record  of  all  their  ob- 
servations. They  were  anxious  to  determine 
whether  the  crow  laid  every  day  or  only  every 
other  day.  Their  book  showed  that  they  found 
the  nest  on  April  10,  and  that  it  contained  one 
egg.  April  11,  there  were  two  eggs  and  the 
1 2th  there  were  three  eggs.  The  fourth  egg 
was  not  present  in  the  nest  until  the  1410, 
which  puzzled  them  somewhat,  as  it  indicated 
that  the  egg  laying  was  not  entirely  regular. 
Five  eggs  were  laid  in  all. 

When  it  came  to  getting  a  picture  of  the 
nest,  they  had  to  fall  back  upon  the  Natural- 
ist, who  climbed  the  tree  to  a  point  above  the 
nest,  and  strapping  himself  to  a  branch  took  a 
photo  from  above,  as  he  had  done  of  the  cooper 
hawks'  nest.  There  were  only  two  eggs  in  the 
nest  when  the  picture  was  taken,  but  he  did  not 
enjoy  dangling  so  high  above  the  earth  enough 
to  go  back  again,  just  to  get  a  few  more  eggs  in 
the  same  kind  of  picture. 

When  the  incubation  began  the  boys  con- 
tinued their  interest  to  see  how  long  it  would 
take  them  to  hatch.  On  the  first  of  May  they 
found  two  young  ones,  and  on  the  second  there 


They  found  a  nest  in  a  tall  tree  near  the  river. 


There  were  but  two  eggs  in  the  nest  when  the  picture  was  takei 


196 


OUR   BACKDOOR  NEIGHBORS 


were  four,  while  the  next  day  the  fifth  egg  had 
hatched  also.  The  boys  were  pleased  to  learn 
that  it  required  three  weeks  for  crows'  eggs  to 


Young  crows,  twenty  days  old. 

hatch,  the  same  as  for  hens'  eggs.  The  nest 
was  composed  of  coarse  twigs,  with  a  deep  de- 
pression about  the  size  and  shape  of  the  inside 
of  a  man's  hat.  The  inside  of  the  nest  was 
lined  with  strips  of  soft  bark.  The  boys  vis- 
ited the  nest  frequently,  to  see  how  fast  the 
little  crows  grew.  At  first  they  were  naked 


A  JOLLY  OLD  CROW 


197 


little  things  which  seemed  to  be  all  mouths, 
but  they  grew  rapidly,  and  soon  were  covered 
with  black  feathers.  When  the  youngsters 
were  twenty  days  old  the  Naturalist  was  pre- 


The  last  of  the  you 


had  left  the  nest. 


vailed  upon  to  climb  the  tree  a  second  time 
and  get  a  picture  of  the  young  ones.  One 
youngster  died  in  the  nest,  whether  from  so 
much  competition  he  was  unable  to  get  suffi- 
cient food,  or  for  some  other  reason,  the  boys 
could  never  quite  determine.  When  they  were 
thirty  days  old  the  last  of  the  young  ones  had 
left  the  nest. 

Before    their    observation    was    completed 


198  OUR  BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

they  had  found  four  more  crows'  nests,  and 
were  becoming  as  ardent  naturalists  as  their 
daddy.  They  have  since  taken  up  the  study 
of  the  crow  language,  also,  and  who  knows  but 
that  the  whole  family  of  Naturalists  will  be 
conversing  in  the  crow  tongue  before  long? 


THE 

CATERPILLAR'S 

PROPHECY 


THE  CATERPILLAR'S  PROPHECY 

THE  Naturalist  had  the  blues;  his  diges- 
tion was  working  at  cross  purposes  with 
his  ambition,  and  the  European  war  was  get- 
ting on  his  nerves.  Reading  so  much  of  death 
and  destruction  filled  him  with  gloom,  and 
raised  many  questions  as  to  the  cause,  purpose, 
and  end  of  life.  The  agnostic  had  almost  con- 
vinced him  that  death  was  not  a  door,  but  a 
blind  wall  beyond  which  one  might  not  pass. 
On  this  basis  he  tried  to  formulate  some  satis- 
factory philosophy  on  the  purpose  of  life,  but 
there  was  none.  He  speculated  much  on  the 
futility  of  man's  labor  in  building  his  houses 
of  sand.  All  men  seemed  as  children  older 
grown.  Instead  of  games  of  marbles  and  ball 
they  played  at  manufacturing,  railroading, 
and  banking,  but  no  more  purpose  seemed  ap- 
parent than  in  the  childhood  games,  beyond 
the  amusement  of  those  who  played.  Some 
men  lived  like  swine  wallowing  in  the  mud, 
other  like  horses  pulling  heavy  loads,  and  still 
others  like  vain  birds  preening  their  feathers 

201 


202  OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 

in  the  sun.  He  questioned  whether  those  pull- 
ing their  loads  or  those  sitting  in  the  sun  en- 
joyed the  present  moment  more  than  those 
wallowing  in  the  mire. 

He  thought  to  little  purpose,  and  his  ques- 
tionings were  in  vain,  for  he  could  find  no  solu- 
tion of  the  enigma  of  life.  Man's  origin  and 
destiny  remain  shrouded  in  mystery,  and  the 
more  serious  the  attempt  to  solve  the  riddle, 
the  greater  the  confusion  of  the  mind.  Wear- 
ily he  decided  that  life  is  but  a  tiny  island  in 
the  unexplored  sea  of  eternity.  He  knewT 
nothing  of  how  he  had  reached  the  island  at 
birth  and  only  knew  that  the  relentless  waves 
of  death,  constantly  beating  upon  it,  sooner  or 
later  would  carry  him  off  into  the  boundless 
sea.  Vaguely  he  wondered  whether  there 
were  other  islands  somewhere,  which  he  might 
reach,  or  whether,  with  death,  would  come 
oblivion,  as  the  agnostic  taught. 

Tiring  of  useless  speculation,  he  threw  him- 
self down  in  the  shade  of  an  apple  tree  under 
which  grew  a  milkweed.  A  monarch  butter- 
fly alighting,  caught  his  attention,  and  he  was 
soon  so  much  absorbed  in  her  movements  that 
problems  of  life  and  death  no  longer  vexed 
him.  The  butterfly  tarried  but  a  moment, 


THE  CATERPILLAR'S  PROPHECY 


203 


flitting  about  carelessly  from  place  to  place. 
Finally  she  approached  the  milkweed,  and 
after  a  moment  of  hesitation  deposited  a  tiny 
white  egg  on  the  under  side  of  a  leaf.  A  mo- 
ment more  and  she  was  gone  without  thought 
or  care  as  to  the  fate  of  her  offspring. 

The  Naturalist  examined  the  plant  with 
some  care,  and  found  that  other  butterflies  had 
been  there  before  and  that  several  of  the  tiny 
eggs  were  present  under  the  leaves  on  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  plant.  Immediately  he  was 
happy  again  in  the  living  present,  which  could 
supply  things  denied  him  by  the  dead  past  and 
the  uncertain  future. 
Here  was  material  to 
occupy  his  time  most 
pleasantly  for  many 
days.  The  butterfly 
was  concerned  about 
only  to-day;  why 
should  he  bother  his 
head  about  a  longer 
time? 

As  free  from  care 
as  a  child  or  a  bird, 
the  Naturalist  spent 
many  hours  dream- 


The  milkweed  suffered  seriously  as  a  result  of 

their  presence,  and  was  soon  almost 

entirely  stripped  of  its  leaves. 


204 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


ing  beside  the  milkweed  in  the  orchard.    The 
tiny  eggs  soon  hatched  and  ugly  little  cater- 
pillars with  black  and  white  stripes  appeared. 
They  were  voracious  little  fellows,  apparently 
consuming  more  than  their  own  bulk  of  coarse 
food  within  a  few  hours.    As  the  days  went  by 
they  moulted,  or  shed  their  skins,  which  were 
getting  too  tight,  and  appeared  in  new  suits  of 
larger  size.     As  they  grew  they  improved  in 
appearance,  and  yellow  bands  in  addition  to 
the  black  and  white  became  more  conspicuous. 
Although  the  caterpillars  had  improved  some- 
what   in    appearance,    they    were    still    any- 
thing but  attractive 
with     their     fierce- 
looking    horns     and 
prison  stripes.     The 
milkweed      suffered 
seriously  as  a  result 
of     their     presence, 
and  was  soon  almost 
entirely  stripped   of 
its  leaves. 

As  the  youngsters 
neared  maturity  the 
Naturalist  took  them 
to  his  study,  where 

As  the  youngsters  neared  maturity  the  Natural- 
ist took  them  to   his  study,   where  he 
could  observe  their  final  change. 


THE  CATERPILLAR'S  PROPHECY       205 


he  could  observe  the  final  change,  the  wonder- 
ful transformation  toward  which  they  had 
been  hastening  while  he  had  dreamed  beside 
their  milkweed.  They 
were  supplied  with  an 
abundance  of  fresh 
leaves  from  other  milk- 
weeds, but  it  was  not  for 
long.  They  had  eaten 
their  portion  of  rough 
herbage  and  were  pre- 
paring for  the  day  when 
they  should  sip  nectar 
from  the  flowers.  The 
Naturalist  was  not  alone 

I    •  *  inverted  question   marK,  a: 

in    WatChing    tO    See    What     like  the  Naturalist,  trying    to  peer 

should  take  place  when  beyond  the  veil  that  hid  its  future- 
a  caterpillar  has  finished  its  portion  of  rough 
fodder,  but  his  boys,  who  by  this  time  were 
also  coming  to  be  naturalists  on  their  own  ac- 
count, were  equally  watchful. 

At  last  one  after  another  of  the  caterpillars 
stopped  feeding  and  began  looking  about  for 
a  suitable  place  to  don  the  rich  raiment  suited 
to  the  new  life  on  which  they  were  about  to 
enter.  When  one  found  a  place  to  its  liking, 
it  prepared  a  silken  fastening  and  turned  itself 


It  turned  itself  into    the  form  of  an 
inverted  question   mark,  as  though, 


206 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


into  the  form  of  an  inverted  question  mark,  as 
though,  like  the  Naturalist,  trying  to  peer  be- 
yond the  thick  veil  that  hid  its  future.  Then  a 


The  caterpillar  gradually  became  incased  in  a  beautiful  casket  of  green  and  gold, 
as  though  some  invisible  fairy  were  preparing  it  for  burial. 

most  wonderful  change  took  place.  The  Nat- 
uralist and  the  watching  boys  could  not  com- 
prehend it,  although  it  took  place  before  their 
very  eyes.  No  more  could  they  describe  it, 
but  the  questioning  caterpillar  gradually  be- 
came incased  in  a  beautiful  casket  of  green 
and  gold,  as  though  some  invisible  fairy  were 
preparing  it  for  burial.  Finally  there  was  no 
longer  any  sign  of  the  ugly  caterpillar  with  its 


THE  CATERPILLAR'S  PROPHECY       207 

prison  stripes,  but  a  marvelous  casket  which 
might  have  been  made  for  the  body  of  a  queen, 
hung  silently  before  them. 

It  was  on  the  nineteenth  of  June,  just  when 
nature  was  at  her  best,  that  the  caterpillar  en- 
tered her  silent  tomb,  and  the  Naturalist  and 
his  sons  kept  close  watch  during  the  days  that 
followed  to  see  what  would  come  next.  Fin- 
ally, ten  days  later,  the  green  of  the  casket  was 
seen  to  change  to  a  rich  brown,  and  they  knew 
that  mother  nature  was  preparing  another  of 
her  great  surprises.  A  few  hours  later  the 
casket  was  split  from  a  movement  from  within, 
and  a  strange  creature  came  forth.  It  was  not 
the  caterpillar  which  they  had  seen  enter  the 
strange  habitation,  that  they  had  seen  spun 
from  sunlight,  ten  days  before.  It  was  a  far 
more  beautiful  creature  and  as  different  in  its 
habit,  physical  construction,  and  appearance 
as  night  is  from  day.  Man  may  watch  silently 
beside  the  casket  of  the  silent  occupant,  and 
note  the  wonderful  change  in  the  creature  that 
comes  forth,  but  how  the  change  is  wrought  is 
not  for  him  to  know. 

At  first  the  little  stranger  presented  a  very 
novel  appearance.  She  had  wings,  but  they 
were  all  folded  over  her  back.  She  walked 


208 


OUR   BACKDOOR   NEIGHBORS 


about  uncertainly  and  gradually  unfolded  her 
wings  until  they  were  nicely  spread,  as  a 
butterfly's  should  be.  She  then  remained 
quietly  hanging  to  the  shell  of  the  empty  casket 
from  which  she  had  so  lately  emerged,  while 
she  dried  her  feathers  and  gained  strength  to 
venture  forth. 

All  too  soon  she  began  flitting  her  wings  as 
though  to  try  them,  and  soon  rinding  them 
strong  enough  to  bear  her  weight  flew  to  the 
window.  She  was  then  released  and  sailed 

away  in  the  sunshine. 
She  was  soon  sipping 
nectar  from  the  clover 
blossoms,  and  from  the 
roadside  thistles,  all  un- 
mindful of  the  coarser 
food  which  had  so  lately 
sustained  her,  and  prob- 
ably forgetful  of  the 
hard  life  that  had  so  re- 
cently prepared  her  for 
the  glorified  state  in 
which  she  now  found 
herself. 

The    Naturalist    had 
M  lost    all    trace    of    his 


She  then  remained  quietly  hanging  to  the  shell 
of  the  empty  casket. 


THE  CATERPILLAR'S  PROPHECY       209 

gloom.  He  was  convinced  that  nature  would 
do  no  more  for  the  caterpillar  than  for  him. 
He  no  longer  speculated  vainly  concerning  the 
beginning  or  end  of  life.  He  was  content  with 
his  coarse  fare,  even  as  the  caterpillar  had 
been,  being  assured  that  when  it  no  longer  was 
sufficient  to  sustain  him,  the  invisible  fairies 
that  prepared  the  casket  for  the  caterpillar 
would  do  as  much  for  him,  and  he  would  lie 
quietly  down  for  his  long  sleep.  Since  the 
caterpillar  could  not  foresee  so  wonderful  a 
change  as  would  make  it  a  butterfly,  neither 
could  he  foresee  what  might  be  in  store  for 
him.  He  had  faith  to  believe  that  the  same 
invisible  Hand  that  had  transformed  the  sleep- 
ing caterpillar  would  prepare  him  for  such  a 
state  as  would  bring  the  fullest  development 
to  his  dormant  powers. 

From  a  lowly  and  insignificant  creature  he 
had  learned  what  the  greatest  philosophers 
among  mankind  had  failed  to  teach  him,  and 
he  now  had  faith  to  believe  that  some  good 
purpose  was  being  served  by  the  lowliest  lives. 
As  a  child  cannot  comprehend  the  thoughts  of 
a  man,  no  more  can  a  man  understand  the 
designs  of  his  Creator.  Both  must  be  con- 
tent to  await  their  normal  growth. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-70m-9,'65(F7151s4)458 


I 


N°  446981 


Pellett,   F.C. 

Our  backdoor  neighbors. 


QL791 
P4 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


